Category: Wisconsin

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Wyalusing State Park

We took our family camping at Wyalusing State Park. The park is where the Mississippi River and Wisconsin River meet in the Southwest corner of the state. We camped at site 236 in the Homestead campground. It was a nice site at the end of the cul-de-sac. We also drove through the Wisconsin Ridge campground. Those sites were more exposed generally. Some had steep drop-offs from the campsites. That always makes me a bit nervous due to my fear of heights.

While we there, we saw some CCC era infomration in a small building. There were photos and paragraphs of text describing what the experience was like during that time. We did the interpretive hike on the Sugar Maple Trail. It was a bit strenuous. We should have brought water and snacks for Annabelle. We saw Pictured Rock Cave.

Another hike we did was Sand Cave Trail. There were two caves. The first cave we saw was bigger than the second. The larger one we could walk underneath. The smaller one we viewed from afar from a higher vantage point.

Nearby one of the overlooks in the park is the Bluff Trail. We walked down this trail where there was another cave. I didn’t go all the way to this cave however. There were steep steps and we were concerned that our dog Buster couldn’t make it down. Linda and Annabelle saw this cave. It turned out to be the best one, you could actually crawl inside. Basically what you’d think a cave would look like.

Wyalusing is a Dark Sky Park. They have astronomy talks there. We didn’t get to check it out but it would be fun to do that sometime. We learned a lot about the glacial activity that altered the landscape. The Mississippi River was originally the Wyalusing River. It flowed east until glaciers changed the flow.

We did a short hike to see Indian Mounds on Sentinel Ridge Trail. The mounds had beautiful wild flowers growing on them. Mounds were also marked behind our campsite on the map. We might not have known they were there without an obvious marker though.

Poison Ivy was at the park along with a couple other poisonous plants. We were cautious to avoid them.

The park had a playground area with a concessions stand. We stopped there both Saturday and Sunday. Annabelle got to play with other kids and we treated ourselves to dippin’ dots after hiking both days. We bought ice there too. The store supports the Friends of Wyalusing.

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Nelson Dewey State Park

Linda and I took our daughter Annabelle and our golden retriever, Buster, to Nelson Dewey State Park over Labor Day weekend. The park is near Cassville by the Mississippi River. We booked a site for Friday night through Monday afternoon. We worked a full day. Picked up AB from daycare and headed to the park. You take 151 southwest from Madison to get there. Once you get off of 151 there is still a ways to go. I was cautious driving at night through the country. We got there late and set up in the dark.

They have a handful of different trails to hike. We hiked all of them. Each of them are less than a mile long. It was very doable for Annabelle who is four years old. We saw nice views of the Mississippi River. The trails took us through woods and some prairie on top of a ridge. Parts were paved while others were not. While we were on the ridge, we saw a train coming past below us.

On Saturday we went canoeing through Y’Allbee Tubin on the Grant River. We met at Raisebeck Bridge (County U- Beetown).  Linda, Annabelle and Buster waited while Y’Allbee followed me to the end at Udelhoven Bridge (Camel Ridge Rd.)  Then they shuttled me back to the start. It was our first time with Buster in a canoe.  He was nervous.  Buster jumped out of the canoe into the river. He was startled when we went over a rock where the river picked up.  In hindsight we should have introduced Buster to boating in a more controlled environment.

Part of the reason Buster was nervous was because he was in the back of the canoe with me. He is more comfortable around Linda. During the workday he lays by her desk at home. Later he crawled up by Linda and relaxed more.  We stopped so Linda could have a beer on a small island in the river. 

At the first bridge we came to, we got stuck on a rapid.  A guy at the river helped move our canoe from the rock.  Linda and I debated whether we wanted to stop. There was a beach with a bunch of boats and people. We pulled the canoe on shore. I hopped out and found that our car was actually parked there. It was a good thing we stopped when we did.

We caught the tail end of the sunset on Saturday and Sunday night overlooking the Mississippi River. While we were hiking we came across a couple logs full of mushrooms. I sent my friend AJ a picture of them. He said they were golden oysters. I picked a grocery bag full of them before we left.

On Labor Day, we packed up to leave. On our way out, we stopped for lunch at the entrance to the park. We saw under a tree. While we ate, we watched trains come along the tracks. Annabelle liked seeing the trains come through.

A slight detour on the way home took us to the UW Platteville campus, my alma mater. Linda and I walked the campus with Buster while Annabelle rode her bicycle. I was hoping to walk through a couple buildings. Unfortunately this wasn’t possible as they all required IDs to badge into them now. One thing that really struck me was how young the college students seem to me now. I did that math on it though. I am twice as old as they are.

Before we left, we stopped by the Platteville Mound. The mound is also known as the M. There is a large letter M in the side of the hill made out of rocks. It is 241 feet high, 214 feet wide, with legs 25 feet wide. Stairs lead up the side of it. We hiked up the stairs and spent some time enjoying the view from the top before heading home.

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The Lost City

Linda and I wanted the holiday weekend to be a bit different than usual. So we thought up something different to do each day. Today we saw the Lost City. I realize this was local to us. I still feel that it is within the intent of the weblog though.

As mentioned here:

In the 1920s, developers planned a “Venice of the North,” to be called Lake Forest. That land is now part of the Arboretum. Hike to the site of the failed subdivision, discovering construction remnants along the way.

We went to the UW Madison arboretum today. The Lost City is within the arboretum. A developer intended to build a sub division here. The economy collapsed. They also discovered that the water table was too high. Roads and foundations sunk into the ground when they were built. They ultimately gave up on it.

We only saw a portion of the arboretum. We parked in the Wingra Springs Lot. You can find a map here. We walked through the Longenecker Horticultural Gardens. They have a variety of pine trees there. More than I knew existed. It was definitely something. It appeared as though they had just a single specimen of each variety planted in that section.

We wandered through the garden. Discovering a trail headed in the right direction, we left towards the Lost City. The trails for the Lost City begin with an L. The markers on the map don’t refer to trails specifically. Rather, they represent points on the map. I found this a bit confusing initially.

I have seen pictures online of the lost city. Apparently there are parts of it where you can see actual overgrown sidewalks. I didn’t want to wander off the beaten path to go looking for them. Guests are supposed to stay on the trails. We went over boardwalks. We saw marshes, wetlands and a pond. Our daughter Annabelle saw a frog.

I enjoyed our time at the Arboretum. Finding a spot like that, a serene chunk of nature, in the middle of the city was certainly a diamond in the rough. I am surprised I have lived here for well over a decade without hiking those trails. We only saw a few groups of people while we were there. Annabelle is three so she can only tolerate so much hiking. We did carry her once she was worn out. Because of this, we only saw a small portion of the trails. So we have a lot to look forward to on future visits.