Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Information and Services
At the bridge along WIS 18 is the Wisconsin Travel Information Center. The
Prairie du
Chien Chamber
(211 S. Main St., 608/326-8555,
www.prairieduchien.org
) also has in-
formation.
At
Wyalusing State Park,
high above the confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi
Rivers was where Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet discovered the upper Mis-
sissippi in 1673. The most popular spot in the park is Point Lookout, 300 feet above the
rich blue waters of the two rivers. Sixteen impeccable miles of trails branch and twist
through variegated topography.
Sentinel Ridge Trail
passes amazingly well-preserved ef-
figy mounds—and wild turkeys. Along the Wisconsin River a trail follows segments of a
real-life immigrant path; another wagon trail loops back to the main trails and goes past a
settler's semipermanent “pit stop” point. Canoeists have marked routes totaling 20 miles
alongthebackwatersloughsoftheMississippi; fishingisexcellent. Locallegendhasitthat
there's gold treasure buried somewhere in the bluffs.
EAGLE-WATCHING
Oneofthe primary U.S.eagle habitats isthe Lower Wisconsin State Riverway,start-
ing in Sauk City in south-central Wisconsin and stretching to the confluence of the
Mississippi River. South of here to the state line, the Upper Mississippi Wildlife
Refuge is another, and the Cassville area is one of the best areas to view eagles with-
in that region. Having rebounded from perilously low levels, Wisconsin as of 2013
has nearly 1,400 eagle nesting sites, up from 108 in 1972, when it garnered federal
endangered listing. Only Minnesota and Florida have more. Though eagles are still
gettingpushedoutbydevelopment,poachedbyknuckleheads,electrocutedbypower
lines, and poisoned by toxic fish, the future isn't quite so grim; nearly every county
in the state now has nesting pairs. (In fact, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Re-
sources even transplanted four eagle chicks into New York City parks.)
Bald eagles really aren't bald; that false-cognate word came from the Middle
English “ball(e)d” (“white spot”). The much more impressive scientific name, Hali-
aetus leucocephalus, roughly translates as “white-headed sea bird.” (The white head
doesn't fully appear until the bird is 4-5 years old.)
