Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
road, Nelson Dewey State Park, both of which are a mile north of town. Docents lead tours
of a contiguous 1900 farmstead and the “innovations” (antique equipment and designs) of
the time. Farther along across Dewey Creek (through a covered bridge) are the 30 recon-
structed buildings doneupasanexplicatory showcase ofturn-of-the-20th-century Midwest
village life. Proudly overlooking all is the homesite of Wisconsin's first governor, Nelson
Dewey. It's a particularly rare architectural specimen—southern plantation amid pastoral
dairyland, fitting the mold of rural Gothic, a leading design of the time, though not in Wis-
consin. Dewey meticulously planned his rustic retreat also to give local masons jobs.
Nelson Dewey State Park
(Hwy. VV, 608/725-5374, 6am-11pm daily) is a 750-acre
plot hewn from the original 2,000 acres of the Dewey family spread along Dewey Creek,
oneoftheonlylargeplantationsintheUpperMidwest.Mostvisitorsheaduptothemajest-
ic belvedere bluffs for miles-long vistas of the Mississippi River valley. Along the bluffs
you'll see groupings of prehistoric
Indian mounds,
the two most prominent at the cliff top
(no effigy mounds, such as those found up the road in Wyalusing State Park). A seven-
acre bluff facing southwest above the river encompasses the Dewey Heights Prairie, a dry,
limy prairie set aside by the state as a scientific reserve. Reservations for camping (888/
947-2257,
wisconsinstateparks.reserveamerica.com
,
reservation fee $10; non-residents $14
and up/night; daily admission $10) are available.
