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La Crosse, Wisconsin, sits in the heart of the Driftless Area — a rare pocket of the upper Midwest that glaciers bypassed during the last Ice Age, leaving behind a landscape of deep river valleys, towering bluffs, and spring-fed streams that have shaped the region’s character for millennia. With a metropolitan population of roughly 116,000, La Crosse is the largest city along the Mississippi River between St. Paul and Dubuque, perched at the confluence of the Mississippi and La Crosse Rivers where the river valley opens into a broad plain flanked by the distinctive Coulee Region bluffs.
The city has long served as a crossroads of transportation, culture, and commerce in the upper Mississippi River region. From its origins as a French fur trading post to its 19th-century role as a steamboat hub and lumber town, La Crosse has reinvented itself repeatedly while maintaining a strong sense of place. Today, the city is known for its vibrant downtown riverfront, a cluster of colleges that gives the city a youthful energy, a growing healthcare industry centered on the Mayo Clinic, and easy access to some of the most scenic river and bluff landscapes in the upper Midwest.
The Driftless Area that surrounds La Crosse has been inhabited for thousands of years, with archaeological evidence of Native American presence dating back millennia. The area’s strategic location at the confluence of two rivers made it an important trade and gathering place for indigenous peoples, and the name “La Crosse” itself derives from the early French explorers who observed the Ho-Chunk people playing a game with sticks shaped like crosses.
French fur trader Joseph Marie Petin established a trading post at the confluence around 1841, and the settlement that grew around it attracted more traders, missionaries, and settlers. The Black Hawk War of 1832 temporarily disrupted Native American presence in the region, but the Ho-Chunk and other peoples maintained their connections to the land that now comprises the La Crosse area.
Steamboats transformed La Crosse in the mid-1800s, with the city becoming a major steamboat landing on the upper Mississippi by the 1850s. The river trade brought goods, people, and cultural influences that shaped the city’s development as a commercial center for the surrounding agricultural region. La Crosse was incorporated as a city in 1856, and the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad reached the city in 1862, cementing its role as a regional transportation hub.
The lumber industry drove explosive growth in the late 1800s, with the vast forests of the surrounding region supplying white pine and hardwood to sawmills along the riverfront. The lumber boom attracted a diverse wave of immigrants, including Germans, Norwegians, Irish, and Czechs, whose cultural influences remain visible in the city’s architecture, festivals, and culinary traditions. La Crosse earned a reputation as the “Brewing Capital of the World” by the early 1900s, with multiple breweries serving the region.
The decline of the lumber era and Prohibition dealt serious blows to the city’s economy, but La Crosse reinvented itself around healthcare and education in the 20th century. The Mayo Clinic expanded into the city, and the establishment of what is now UW-La Crosse in 1909 gave the city an academic anchor that continues to shape its culture and economy. Today, healthcare, education, and tourism form the backbone of the modern La Crosse economy.
La Crosse offers a mix of outdoor activities, cultural attractions, and river experiences that make the most of its dramatic bluff-and-river setting.
The Mississippi Riverfront is the heart of the city’s public life, with a scenic riverwalk stretching along the water’s edge past downtown. Riverside Park anchors the waterfront with open green space, a performance pavilion hosting summer concerts, and unobstructed views of the river and the bluffs across the water in Minnesota. The park is a gathering place for locals and visitors alike, particularly during the summer festival season.
The Great River State Trail runs for 24 miles along an abandoned railroad grade, connecting La Crosse to the Mississippi River and surrounding wetlands. Cyclists, joggers, and inline skaters use the paved trail year-round, with scenic rest stops overlooking the river and opportunities to observe wildlife in the adjacent Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge.
Grand River Dam, just north of the city, offers a peaceful retreat with hiking trails that wind through oak savanna and along the dam’s reservoir. The area is popular for fishing, with the dam’s tailwaters providing habitat for walleye, northern pike, and smallmouth bass. Birders visit the dam area for glimpses of bald eagles, osprey, and a variety of songbirds that inhabit the surrounding forest.
The La Crosse River confluence area offers calmer water recreation compared to the main Mississippi channel, with kayakers and canoeists able to explore backwaters and marshes that provide habitat for herons, turtles, and waterfowl. Several local outfitters rent watercraft and provide shuttle services for self-guided trips.
La Crosse’s historic downtown and surrounding neighborhoods contain a mix of 19th-century architecture, riverfront attractions, and cultural institutions that reflect the city’s layered history.
The Hixon House, a Victorian Italianate home built in 1868 by early La Crosse merchant Nathaniel Hixon, stands as one of the finest examples of 19th-century residential architecture in the region. The house, now operated as a museum by the La Crosse Historical Society, offers guided tours that reveal the lives of one of the city’s founding families and the domestic culture of La Crosse’s prosperous river trade era.
Our Lady of the Angels Monastery, now home to the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, is one of the region’s most distinctive architectural landmarks. The Gothic Revival stone complex, built between 1929 and 1961, features soaring vaulted spaces, hand-painted murals, and 90-foot stone walls. Public tours offered several times weekly provide access to the monastery’s remarkable interior and its centuries-old tradition of contemplative practice.
The La Crosse Cathedral, officially St. Joseph the Workman Cathedral, anchors the downtown with its twin spires and Romanesque Revival architecture. The church, consecrated in 1931, features distinctive interior artwork and serves as the seat of the Diocese of La Crosse. The surrounding cathedral district preserves several blocks of historic commercial architecture from the city’s early 20th-century boom years.
Washburn, a neighboring community just across the river in Minnesota, is accessible by a dramatic bridge crossing that offers sweeping views of the river valley. The small town is known for its art galleries, the Lake Superior Escarpment hiking area, and a concentration of artists and craftspeople drawn to the dramatic landscape.
La Crosse’s location at the junction of two major river valleys and the adjacent Driftless Area bluffs provides exceptional outdoor recreation diversity within a short drive of downtown.
The Mississippi River itself is a year-round destination for anglers, with the deep pools and fast currents around the La Crosse confluence providing habitat for walleye, sauger, channel catfish, and the prized lake sturgeon, which can live for more than a century and weigh over 100 pounds. Ice fishing on the river’s backwaters draws devoted practitioners during the winter months when safe ice conditions develop on the calmer side channels and sloughs.
The bluffs surrounding La Crosse offer some of the most scenic hiking in the upper Midwest, with networks of trails traversing oak forests, limestone outcrops, and hilltop prairies. The Great River State Trail connects to a broader system of multi-use paths, while more rugged routes climb to ridgetop viewpoints that reveal the sweeping scale of the Driftless Area landscape.
Cycling is a major draw for the region, with the Great River State Trail, the La Crosse River State Trail, and numerous quiet county roads providing options for every skill level. Each fall, the area hosts major cycling events that draw thousands of riders to experience the challenging but scenic bluff-top and river-valley routes.
In winter, the Blufflands surrounding La Crosse transform into a playground for cross-country skiing and snowmobiling, with groomed trail networks maintained by local clubs and the Wisconsin State Trail system. The river itself offers ice skating opportunities on safe frozen backwaters, and the surrounding hills provide terrain for sledding and tubing.
The best time to experience La Crosse depends on the activities you prioritize, with each season offering a distinctly different character and set of opportunities.
Summer brings the warmest temperatures and the most active event calendar, with the La Crosse Area Jamgrass Festival, riverfront concerts at Riverside Park, and a full schedule of festivals celebrating music, food, and culture. River recreation peaks during these months, and the downtown restaurant and brewery scene thrives with outdoor patios and river views. Summer is ideal for river paddling, cycling, and attending outdoor events.
Autumn is arguably La Crosse’s most spectacular season, as the Blufflands around the city explode in color with the characteristic reds, oranges, and golds of sugar maples, red oaks, and birch. The harvest season brings farm markets, brewing festivals, and the La Crosse ** Oktoberfest**, one of the oldest German heritage celebrations in the Midwest. Fall is prime time for hiking the bluffs and scenic drives along the Great River Road.
Winter visitors are rewarded with quiet trails, excellent cross-country skiing on the surrounding state lands, and the chance to experience the Mississippi River in its frozen, dramatic winter state. The city’s breweries and warming pubs offer cozy respites after cold outdoor activities, and the holiday season brings festive events at downtown venues.
Spring marks the return of migratory birds to the river corridor, with the Mississippi River Flyway bringing tens of thousands of waterfowl through the area. Bald eagles remain on their nesting territories along the river bluffs, and the ice-out period in March and April creates prime fishing conditions as spawning fish move through the river systems. Spring is an excellent time for birdwatching and wildlife photography along the river.
Here are some of our recommended things to do while visiting La Crosse. Select what you would enjoy!
Grandad Bluff stands as the defining natural landmark of La Crosse, Wisconsin, rising 600 feet above the Mississippi River Valley to offer one of the most sweeping vistas in the upper Midwest. Recognized by Wisconsin Trails readers as “the most scen…