Perrot State Park

Perrot State Park lies just outside the little river town of Trempealeau (pronounced "TRUMP-a-low") in western Wisconsin. Trempealeau is currently famous for two things - Trempeapeau Mountain (above) in Perrot State Park and the old-but-new Hotel Trempealeau (below, to the right). The name "Trempealeau Mountain" is a corruption of the French "La Montagne Qui Trempe a Leau" which means "the mountain whose foot is bathed by water".

I like to come here in the fall to camp out, hike along the bluffs, have a few beers at the Hotel Trempealeau, and take in the spectacular scenery. The colors here are usually still vibrant several weeks after most of the leaves have dropped off further north. There are many oaks along these river bluffs, and being rather modest, they are always the last ones to strip their leaves. Trempealeau Mountain (below) is full of them.

The mighty Mississippi dominates this area. Over millions of years it has carved some spectacular bluffs between Wisconsin and Minnesota. Around one million years ago, during the last ice age, it changed course and turned the "bluffs" of Perrot State Park into islands of rock as the river migrated west. Minnesota gave them up and Wisconsin captured them. You can see both rivercourses in the picture below, which looks upriver to the north. The Mississippi runs along the left. Brady's Bluff is in the foreground. The bluffs in the distance to the right belong to Wisconsin and are now far from the wandering River.

There are two ways to view the full set of slides:

Select a Thumbnail

Automatic Slideshow
(with 10 second delay)