The Great River State Trail is a

rail trail A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...

between Onalaska and

Marshland A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. It is designed for foot, bicycle, equestrian or light motorized traffic. It is designated as a multiuse trail, offering recreational access to the routes, and is open to the public. Western Wisconsin Bike Trail Map

It is one of four connecting bike trails in west-central Wisconsin that spans approximately one-third of the state. The trail gets its name for running along the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

, hence "Great River" State Trail. It is part of the larger Wisconsin bike trail system, operated by the state of

. The four connecting west central Wisconsin trails, known as the

Bike 4 Trails A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered transport, human-powered or motorized bicycle, motor-powered assisted, bicycle pedal, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two bicycle wheel, wheels attached to a ...

, going from southeast to northwest are: *the

400 State Trail The 400 State Trail is a rail trail between Reedsburg and Elroy, Wisconsin. It is designed for foot, bicycle, equestrian, snowmobile traffic. It is designated as a multi-use trail, offering recreational access to the routes, and is open to th ...

() *the

Elroy-Sparta State Trail The Elroy-Sparta State Trail is a Wisconsin State rail trail between Elroy and Sparta, Wisconsin. Considered to be the first rail trail when it opened in 1967, it was designed for foot, bicycle, equestrian and light motorized traffic. Designat ...

() *the

La Crosse River Trail The La Crosse River State Trail is a rail trail between Sparta and Onalaska, Wisconsin. It is designed for foot, bicycle, equestrian or light motorized traffic. It is designated as a multiuse trail, offering recreational access to the routes, and ...

() *the Great River State Trail () The north end of the trail is on Refuge Rd. at the intersection of West Prairie Rd., southeast of

(). The south end is at the intersection with the La Crosse River Trail at a parking lot off of County Highway B east of in Medary at the former Winona Junction.(). The trail headquarters is located in Onalaska and is open from May 1 through October 31. There is a $5.00 per day fee for use of the trail if one does not have the $25.00 yearly Wisconsin bike trail pass. Camping, lodging, food, parking, bike rentals and information are available at many points along the trail. The trail is constructed upon the abandoned

Chicago and North Western Railway The Chicago and North Western was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states befor ...

railroad bed. The La Crosse, Trempealeau & Prescott Railroad chartered to build from a point across the river from Winona to connect with the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railroad at Winona Junction in Wisconsin near La Crosse. This was completed in 1870 with tracks in Marshland. It features 18 bridges that cross over streams feeding into the Mississippi River. It provides visitors with easy access to the Nicholls Hopewell Mound, the

Perrot State Park Perrot State Park is a state park in Wisconsin's Driftless Area at the confluence of the Trempealeau and Mississippi rivers. The park features views of steep limestone bluffs and the river valleys. It has observation platforms for watching wil ...

, and the

Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge located along the Upper Mississippi River in extreme southern Buffalo County and extreme southwestern Trempealeau County in Wisconsin, United States. It is in part a wetland co ...

. The Great River State Trail passes through the

Mississippi Flyway The Mississippi Flyway is a bird migration route that generally follows the Mississippi, Missouri, and Lower Ohio Rivers in the United States across the western Great Lakes to the Mackenzie River and Hudson Bay in Canada. The main endpoints of t ...

and is frequented by bird watchers. Many wildlife species can be observed from the trail as it passes through beautiful natural regions, such as

bottomland hardwood forest The bottomland hardwood forest is a type of deciduous and evergreen hardwood forest found in broad lowland floodplains along large rivers and lakes in the United States and elsewhere. They are occasionally flooded, which builds up the alluvial soi ...

s and Wisconsin's

Driftless area The Driftless Area, a topographical and cultural region in the American Midwest, comprises southwestern Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota, northeastern Iowa, and the extreme northwestern corner of Illinois. Never covered by ice during the last ...

s. Some examples of the trademark Wisconsin species observed by visitors include

great blue heron The great blue heron (''Ardea herodias'') is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North America and Central America, as well as the Caribbean and the Galápagos ...

egret Egrets ( ) are herons, generally long-legged wading birds, that have white or buff plumage, developing fine plumes (usually milky white) during the breeding season. Egrets are not a biologically distinct group from herons and have the same build ...

s, and

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...

."Resource: Great River Road State Bicycle Trail , Trempealeau Chamber of Commerce Business Directory"
, Trempealeau Chamber of Commerce, Trempeauleau, 2014.

References

External links

Great River State Trail Interactive MapBike4Trails Complete Map
includes The

, The

, and the

. {{Wisconsin hiking trails Rail trails in Wisconsin Chicago and North Western Railway Protected areas of La Crosse County, Wisconsin Protected areas of Trempealeau County, Wisconsin Protected areas of Buffalo County, Wisconsin National Recreation Trails in Wisconsin

See also

References

External links