La Crosse
A bluff-top city where the Mississippi, Black and La Crosse rivers meet. Grandad Bluff overlooks the valley shared by three states, and the city is a common overnight stop for road trips along the Great River Road.
La Crosse is located in western Wisconsin, where the Mississippi, Black and La Crosse rivers come together. Minnesota lies across the river, and Iowa is only a few dozen kilometers to the south. With a population of about 50,000, the city is home to the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse and is an important town on the Great River Road National Scenic Byway. The surrounding bluffs are part of the Driftless Area, a landscape the glaciers never reached.
The climate is continental, with warm, humid summers and bitterly cold, snowy winters. June through October is best for boat trips and cycling. Mid-October brings the finest fall colors in the river valley, and early October hosts a nationally famous beer festival.
The area divides into three parts. In the city, there are Grandad Bluff, the riverfront park and boat cruises, the historic Pearl Street district, and the Hixon House and church. To the north along the Great River Road are Lock and Dam No. 7, Perrot State Park and the Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge, and across the river, Great River Bluffs State Park. About 80 km to the south is Effigy Mounds National Monument.
Getting there: La Crosse Regional Airport has flights connecting through Chicago or Minneapolis. The Amtrak Empire Builder stops here. By car, Minneapolis and Madison are each about 2.5 hours away. Plan to stay 1–2 days.
Note: State parks require a vehicle entry pass. Bluff-top roads tend to ice over in winter, and mosquitoes are common by the river in summer.
Top sights
- Grandad Bluff – A limestone bluff about 180 metres above the city, with views over La Crosse, the Mississippi River and the valleys where Wisconsin, Minnes…
- Riverside Park – A riverside city park where the Mississippi and La Crosse rivers meet, with a Hiawatha statue, a friendship garden and a landing for riverb…
- La Crosse Queen – Sightseeing sternwheeler modeled on 19th-century paddle steamers, cruising the Mississippi River and sometimes passing through a lock where…
- World's Largest Six-Pack – Six giant storage tanks at the City Brewery, painted to look like beer cans, are a classic photo stop on an American road trip along the Gr…
- Hixon House – Italianate residence built in 1859 for a lumber baron, with nearly all of its original furniture preserved, offering a window into life dur…
- Downtown La Crosse & Pearl Street – Downtown with many 19th-century red-brick commercial buildings. Pearl Street is the heart of it, lined with craft breweries, restaurants an…
- Riverside Museum – A small museum in Riverside Park showcasing upper Mississippi River steamboat history, Indigenous culture, and artifacts from the sunken st…
- Pump House Regional Arts Center – An arts center housed in a Romanesque-style municipal water pumping station built in 1880, with galleries and a small theater.
- Mary of the Angels Chapel – A Romanesque-style chapel inside St. Rose Convent, celebrated for its marble, mosaics, and stained glass.
- Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe – A Catholic shrine complex in the wooded bluffs southeast of town, with a classical-style church linked to forest trails and a rosary path.
- La Crosse River State Trail – An roughly 35-kilometer trail built on an old railroad bed, passing through prairie, farmland, and small towns in the La Crosse River valle…
- Lock and Dam No. 7 – A Mississippi River lock about 8 kilometers north of La Crosse, where public viewing platforms offer close-up views of towboats pushing bar…
- Perrot State Park – A bluff-top state park at the confluence of the Mississippi and Trempealeau rivers, where Brady's Bluff overlooks the Mountain in the Water.
- Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge – A wetland and prairie refuge on the Mississippi floodplain, where a scenic driving loop and trails offer views of swans, pelicans, and bald…
- Great River Bluffs State Park – A bluff park across the river in Minnesota, whose overlooks above the Mississippi valley make it a popular stop on autumn drives.
- Effigy Mounds National Monument – More than 200 prehistoric Indigenous mounds on bluffs above the Iowa bank of the Mississippi, including effigy mounds shaped like bears and…
Where to eat
- Buzzard Billy's – A Cajun restaurant and landmark on Pearl Street in downtown La Crosse, serving alligator strips, seafood okra gumbo, an…
- Digger's Sting – A 1970s-style Wisconsin supper club known for its large prime rib and garlic toast.
- Freighthouse Restaurant – A steakhouse converted from an 1880 railroad freight warehouse listed on the National Register of Historic Places, know…
- Pearl Ice Cream Parlor – A 1930s-style soda fountain that makes ice cream and waffle cones daily using Wisconsin dairy.