Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Stoddard
Before the construction of Genoa's lock and dam, Stoddard wasn't even close to the Mis-
sissippi, but upon completion of the dam almost 20,000 acres of bottomland was covered,
and suddenly Stoddard could call itself a riverboat town. There's great ornithology along
the Coon Creek bottoms in federal refuge land. Lots of wildlife (the stuffed variety) can be
seen at
Riverland Taxidermy,
whose owner won the 2009 World Taxidermy Champion-
ship for his stuffed caribou.
Stoddard has one of the best county parks in the state—
Goose Island,
with more than
1,000 acres, six miles of trails, and more than enough camping.
You'vegottohaveaburgerat
Thirsty Turtle
(102S.MainSt.,608/457-9115).They're
good.
To the south, the river views turn splendid, and pulloffs are pocked into the road-
side—you can espy three states. Midway between Genoa and Stoddard is an outstanding
drive off the road to the east, to the Old Settlers Overlook, about 500 feet above the river.
Genoa
Here opens the mouth of the Bad Axe River proper, near Genoa, an untouched classic river
town.ThetowngrewwithadecidedItalianflavorasmanyearlysettlerswereItalianfisher-
menwhostartedoutasleadminersinGalena,Illinois,beforemigratinghereforthefishing.
The Dairyland Power Cooperative began the first rural electric (here, hydroelectric) pro-
ject in western Wisconsin. The state's first nuclear power plant was also located here, built
in 1967 and taken offline in 1987. Fishing is key, with one of the upper Mississippi's best
walleye runs; there's even
Clement's Barge,
since 1937 anchored below the lock for fish-
ing—theoldestoperationontheMississippi.Muchofthefishisstockedbythe
Genoa Fish
Hatchery
(608/689-2605,Mon.-Fri.)actuallyclosertoVictory.Anotherofthe“largestany-
where” variety of fish hatcheries the state seems to specialize in, this one is the most di-
verse, raising cold- and warm-water fish. Otherwise, Genoa's
Lock and Dam 8
is one of
theriver'sbestforviewing“lockthroughs”astheshipspass.
Old Tool Shed Antiques
here
is amazing in its scope of Mississippi River Valley detritus.
