Starting off from Mount Hosmer Park in Lansing, Iowa, our goal today was to explore the southern section of the Trans Wisconsin Adventure Trail. This is a popular route leading over gravel roads and through scenic areas of the “driftless region”. This is definitley not a comprehensive photo journal of the trip, just some shots that I took as time allowed. For the most part I was enjoying the journey as it was my first time.
Part One: Lansing to Marquette (Iowa)
The roads south of Lansing wind along the river and bluffs until we moved a bit further inland and found gravel. I believed much of the route is designed to see gravel roads but large portions are on pavement (though no less scenic).
Entering the Yellow River State Forest near Harpers Ferry there is a bridge over the Paint Creek offering a photo-op. I was second to last in our group and didn’t notice others taking a more angled approach, though I still like how this shot comes together.
Jason was last in the convoy and he showed me how it’s done. Due to other traffic moving through the area we didn’t have a lot of time for perfection and I wish we could have better centered on the bridge. On the other hand, it’s difficult to get a bad picture of this beast.
For the rest of this section we were mostly on auto-pilot taking in the sights. I was able to snap a couple “creative” images one-handed as we cruised along. Notice the dust? Some areas didn’t get the morning rains.
This one is a good example of what you’ll find: country gravel roads winding through the bluffs. Again notice the dust (or lack thereof here). Rain is sometimes very welcome.
Part Two: Prairie du Chien to Potosi (Wisconsin)
After crossing the Mississippi River at Prarie du Chien and then crossing the Wisconsin River at Bridgeport, we continued south through more bluffs and hollows. One of the more popular locations for photos is found on Dugway Road near Glen Haven and immediately adjacent to Devil’s Backbone State Natural Area. Here you’ll find a large rock overhang, and although I don’t care for seeing graffiti on natural formations it is a spot for brief some 4×4 fun. Most people posed as shown below which is a fairly tame line for my truck.
I decided this could be improved upon and to test my suspension (and for the entertainment of the crew) I gave it another go with a slightly higher line…
And after a little persuasion and 4 wheel drive I made it up that line. And then I quickly hit the part of that line that wanted to flip me over.
Here’s a reverse view showing my left rear tire in the air and right tire fully stuffed. Still doesn’t quite show the angle (thanks to the person taking photos here with my camera).
Best angle was this shot taken by Pat (thank you!) showing the flex. Not bad for having what most would barely consider “mid travel” on this platform. I’m pleased.
After we had our fun it was time for more trails. No further stops on the rest of this route until the final destination – just fine with us, it’s a very pleasant area for a lazy weekend cruise.
GPS Driving Data
Here is the route we took from Lansing, Iowa to Potosi Point back in Wisconsin. As you can see about 40% of the trip was on the Iowa side.
Overall distance for the recorded path is just shy of 100 miles. I believe I captured most of it, but there might be a couple I missed at the very start. Call it an even 100. As you can see our average moving speed was only around 20mph which seems about right as our goal was more sight-seeing versus speed run.
