Effigy Mounds National Park – Fall Color Hikes
Located on the Iowa side of the Upper Mississippi Great River Road, Effigy Mounds is a popular fall color attraction due to its mature mixed hardwood forest, its well-maintained and annotated nature/history trails, and its elevated scenic views of the Mississippi River and surrounding bluffs. An added attraction is its founding feature: the hundreds of Indian Burial Mounds and its educational displays on the ancient Mounds culture.
We picked the second weekend in October for our visit since during the same weekend was the McGregor Arts & Crafts Festival (see our earlier post). There was more color in the foliage than the same time last year and it was a beautiful fall day. However if your aim is to catch the ultimate “peak” of color, it looks like the second half of October is the best time to catch the most vibrant colors along this part of the Mississippi River. There were also festivals going on this weekend in LaCrosse, Wisconsin and Winona, Minnesota so River Road travelers could catch several fall festivals plus some fall color on this particular weekend. If you wait til the following weekend, however, you can enjoy some fall color and Prairie Du Chien’s Oktoberfest.
Fall Attractions along the Wisconsin-Minnesota Great River Road
- Fall Color Drive along the Mississippi River, La Crosse to Red Wing
- Fall Color Itaska State Park – Headwaters of the Mississippi River
- Fall Color Interstate National Park – On the St. Croix National Scenic Wild River
- Wabasha – Winona Fall Color Drive –
- McGregor, Iowa – Prairie Du Chien, Wisconsin – Attractions along the Mississippi Great River Road
- Best River Road Campgrounds – Dubuque, Iowa to Trempealeau, WI
More Posts on Effigy Mounds
See hiking trail maps, more pictures, and other information on visiting Effigy Mounds at our earlier post on Effigy Mounds National Park.
And you can see still more fall pictures from a visit a few years ago here: Fall visit to Effigy Mounds on our Quilting Pathways website
Ross
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