Wyalusing State Park / Effigy Mounds National Monument

Driving from Spring Green, WI to Edgewood, IA | Tower Hill State Park | Wyalusing State Park | Effigy Mounds National Monument | Guttenberg, IA | Fountain Springs County Park, IA | May 2026

On our last morning in Wisconsin, we started by driving from the rest area over to another state park that was just off our route: Tower Hill State Park. It probably wasn’t one we would know about or visit had it not been for our buying a state park pass and trying to visit as many as possible during our time in Wisconsin, but it made for a pleasant stop to get our first walk of the day in. We parked near a pavilion and walked counter clockwise around the Old Ox loop trail, which was about all we could do because the trail along the river was closed at the time.

One of the main significant sites in the park is the reconstructed shot tower, tunnel, and shaft used for making lead pellets for shotguns. We missed out on getting to see the tunnel and shaft because of the trail closure, but the tower offered views over the Wisconsin river and surrounding area, and had several placards sharing about the history. We found the stories about one of the owners/operators to be most entertaining, as he was known to be quite the practical joker.

When we were finished here, we began our longer drive West heading to Iowa. We mostly took WI-60 West along the North side of the Wisconsin River, which was quite scenic. Before leaving Wisconsin, we made one more stop at a state park on the bluff overlooking the confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers: Wyalusing State Park.

We’ve seen views from this area a couple times from the Iowa side at Pikes Peak State Park and knew you can’t go wrong with these scenic areas in the Driftless region and along the Mississippi. Tall bluffs on both sides of the river that we can pretend are mountains, small islands scattered throughout the river, and if you’re lucky, a bald eagle sighting, along with other cool birds. We began with visiting the Point Lookout, which was the most popular scenic spot, then walked through the woods, down and up the bluffs, ending up at the Passenger Pigeon Monument. Gone but never forgotten. There were also some mounds along the trail, which had us noting how many mounds we had seen in Wisconsin, and wondering why Effigy Mounds National Monument only encompasses a small part of Iowa. Luckily we wouldn’t have to wait long to ask that question!

Once we were finished here, we made one last stop at the best thing to come out of Wisconsin —Culver’s, of course — then crossed the bridge from Prairie du Chien into Marquette, IA. A first crossing for us; we only have a couple bridges left before we can say we’ve crossed every bridge over the Mississippi from Iowa!

Our first stop in Iowa was at Effigy Mounds National Monument, our 3rd time visiting the park (first in a 2014/second in 2024). Our main purpose for visiting was to get the America 250 stamp, but of course we also wanted to chat with a ranger and have our question answered. Turns out the answer to why Iowa got the national park site for preserving the Native American burial mounds instead of Wisconsin is because they wanted it more! We learned that there was at one time a proposal to make a national park for the Mississippi River going all the way from St. Paul down to Dubuque. But of course that didn’t happen. But because of the efforts of an Iowan and native of McGregor, president Truman established Effigy Mounds NM; the only part of that stretch of river that has gotten national park administered status. We enjoyed chatting with the ranger, as we always do, especially when we learned that she was from our hometown!

In our previous visits we had hiked to what we perceived as the main highlights — the mounds and Fire Point overlooking the Mississippi — so today we just went on an easy walk across the road from the visitor center that went over the Yellow River and to the Founders Pond. The water in the Yellow River was a stunning shade of turquoise, which we naturally had to joke about it being because of the nitrates polluting Iowa’s waters.

We had originally planned on camping at a spot where we had stayed two years prior and enjoyed right on the Mississippi River, but when we arrived there we found that it was closed, probably due to high water and a flood watch. While we were wondering what our back up should be, we decided to drive to Guttenberg and go for a walk around town. We parked near the Lock and Dam, and after checking those out went on a long walk South through town and back. We briefly considered trying to stealth camp here, but when I looked at other options, I saw another county forest that was about an hour away and would hopefully be a quieter spot to end our time on the road for the month. And so we drove West to Edgewood where we found a quiet spot in Fountain Springs County Park next to a babbling brook and surrounded by wildflowers. We liked the spot enough that we decided to stay put for the entire next day, and just enjoyed that far too brief window of spring in Iowa where it’s warm but not humid and the gnats haven’t arrived yet.