The weather has been so beautiful that hubby and I have continued our hiking adventures long past when the leaves have fallen. We have been finding that the views are even more amazing in late fall because there is no foliage on the trees to obstruct your views.
This week's hiking trail is Grandad Bluff in LaCrosse, Wisconsin
Grandad Bluff is located on the east side of LaCrosse. It is 590 feet above the surrounding land and 1183 above sea level. There is a beautiful look out point that you can drive up and access from a short walk from the parking lot. There are also many hiking trails all throughout the park and surrounding area.
From the top of Grandad Bluff you get a scenic view of the Mississippi River Valley along with three states: Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa.
The area that I live in is one of the most scenic areas in the state of Wisconsin. It is called the Driftless Area. The region escaped the flattening effects of glaciation during the last ice age and is consequently characterized by steep, forested ridges, deeply carved river valleys, and karst geology characterized by spring-fed waterfalls and cold-water trout streams (i.e. Wikipedia).
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There are two look out points at the top of Grandad Bluff, the large one pictured in the third picture above and a smaller one to the side.
As much as I enjoy hiking when the fall colors are at their peak, it's also fun hiking once all the leaves have fallen and hear the crunching of leaves under your feet!
The trail eventually led us to the underside of the bluff overlook we were previously standing on.
To our surprise, we discovered that they were in the process of creating a new trail system for both bikers and hikers on Grandad Bluff. Most of it was completed and useable, but they were still working on it when we were there. We decided to also explore some of these short trails. They looked really fun for mountain biking because they created little hills on the trail for extra thrills. My husband and I started thinking "Hmmm, maybe we need to get mountain bikes and join in on all the fun!"
Although much lower than Grandad Bluff, there were scenic lookouts on this trail too!
After hiking we enjoyed lunch at one of our favorite restaurants in LaCrosse then headed home. However, the nature viewing wasn't over yet, as we had several wonderful surprises on the way home!
We had a young buck cross right in front of our car.
Have A Great Day! Amy
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