La Crosse, Wisconsin, located on the banks of the Mississippi River, is surrounded by a rugged landscape that features high ridges and narrow valleys. The city offers various parks where you can enjoy the beautiful natural scenery the area has to offer, as well as cultivated gardens that represent landscape styles from all over the world.
1. Grandad Bluff
Located on the east side of La Crosse, the 600-foot Grandad Bluff proudly watches over the city. Like all the other bluffs along the Mississippi River, this is a classic mesa, which is an isolated, flat-topped hill that stands distinctly above the surrounding plain. In 1909, a prominent family bought the bluff to save it from being exploited through limestone mining, and in 2012 the family donated the area to the city to establish a park.
Visitors can access the bluff via Bliss road. A fenced-off area atop the bluff features convenient amenities, such as picnic areas, a shelter house, and coin-operated binoculars. From this vantage point, visitors can enjoy spectacular views of the surrounding area, including the Mississippi River, the bluffs in Minnesota, and Interstate 90. At midnight on New Year’s Eve in 1929, the La Crosse Skyrockers held a spectacular fireworks show on top of the bluff; since then, this has become an annual festivity in La Crosse.
2. Riverside Park
Riverside Park is a beautiful recreational area in La Crosse that’s located at the confluence of the city’s three rivers, the Mississippi, Black, and La Crosse rivers. As pleasure boating on the Mississippi is a favorite pastime in La Crosse, the park is home to an authentic paddlewheeler, the La Crosse Queen. Visitors can board the La Crosse Queen for daily sightseeing cruises or, on Friday nights, for a pizza cruise.
The park features a wide-open grass space where families and friends can sit down for a picnic or just enjoy the gorgeous riverfront views that include boats and barges sailing by. There’s also a boardwalk that stretches along the water where you can go for a jog or a walk. Numerous community events and festivals are held at this park, including the annual Riverfest.
3. Riverside International Friendship Gardens
Just east of the La Crosse County Convention & Visitors Bureau at Riverside Park lies the Riverside International Friendship Gardens, which is a celebration of La Crosse’s sister-city relationships with communities across the world, including China, Germany, Russia, Norway, and Ireland. You can view the landscaping styles from these regions through the unique gardens displayed here.
The Chinese Gardens, which celebrates the ancient sister city Luoyang, features two striking dragons at the entrance, walled gardens, and the design principles of feng shui. As Luoyang is the peony capital of China, the garden is also dotted with peonies of all colors. The German sister city, Friedberg, is represented through a garden that’s filled with hydrangeas, roses, and fruiting shrubs, just like the typical summer gardens in Germany.
If you’re looking to while away some time enjoying nature in beautiful surroundings on a hot summer day, visit these parks in La Crosse that offer gorgeous settings and convenient amenities.
Image by Dariusz Staniszewski from Pixabay | CC By 0
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