Perrot State Park #37

Perrot State Park is located in Western Wisconsin where the Trempealeau River meets the Mississippi River, and has awe inspiring views from 500 foot cliffs that rise above the surrounding landscape. The hike here was tough, basically straight uphill, but the view was well worth it. Luckily G had started to wear out just a bit at this park, so he consented to ride for at least half of the hike.

This park has 12.5 miles of hiking trails, and the nice thing is there is a wide variety of trails, so one can undertake any diffiulty hike they desire. I guess we were really looking for a challenge, as we found ourself on Brady's Bluff Trail, which not coincidentally took us to the top of a bluff. The park is 1,270 acres, and the land was donated by John Latsch, a wealthy grocer who became a conservationist after escaping a storm while canoeing in the Mississippi, just to be forced off the land on which he had taken refuge by a local farmer.

Latsch requested the park be named after Nicholas Perrot, a French explorer, who was one of the first Europeans in the Upper Mississippi river area. The area donated was the site of a camp used by Perrot and his men during thewWinter of 1685-1686. It was ideal because of the nearby river, the bluffs to protect the group from the winter weather, and prairies with abundance wildlife. The area was again used for a French fort from 1732-1737.Although these were the first Europeans to explore the area, Native Americans habitated the area long before that. Research shows that tribes were in the area known as Perrot State Park as long as 7,000 years ago.

If you have traveled to any state parks (or read any part of this blog:), there's a good chance you have heard about the Civilian Conservation Corp or the CCC. The CCC was a project created by the government during the Great Depression to create work projects for young men. The men lived on site at the state parks, and their wages were mostly sent home to their families with just $6 given to them personally a month.

The CCC created shelters, buildings, beaches, and trails that are still used to this day. They built the trails to the top of Brady's Bluff as well as the shelter at the top. G kept remarking that it "smelled" in the shelter at the top. Although we, (and some nice strangers), kept telling him that it was the smell of old wood and damp and wasn't that offensive, he maintained it smelled and didn't spend more than a few minutes in there at a time.

This park was outstanding, definitely one of the favorites on our list. I wish we had more time here. As it was, we were able to get in a good hike, have a picnic and enjoy some scenic overlooks. This is definitely one that we will return to as soon as possible! Next stop (same day), Wildcat Mountain State Park!