The Minnesota Marine Art Museum is a nonprofit visual art museum that creates meaningful experiences that explore our relations with water. From contemporary exhibitions to historic works of art, MMAM engages visitors and the community with great art inspired by water. Photo: MMAM. https://mmam.org/
Home to Pettibone Beach House, Pettibone Beach, Pettibone Rentals and three Fishing Platforms.
Pettibone Park is a large park covering 230 acres, with a beach on the Mississippi River and a disc golf course. It also has the distinction of being the park which led to the creation of a parks system in the City of La Crosse.
Pettibone Park was originally called Barron’s Island and located in the state of Minnesota. Alonzo Barron filed plans to develop an Island City there in 1857, which never happened. The land was partially acquired by Mayor Frank Powell and Buffalo Bill Cody before being purchased by Albert Wells Pettibone in 1901. Mr. Pettibone promptly deeded the land to the Pettibone Park Commission for use as a public park by the citizens of La Crosse, even though it remained in Minnesota until 1918, when an act of Congress transferred the island to the state of Wisconsin, and it could be annexed by the City in 1919. A.W. Pettibone was a leading lumber merchant who was elected mayor of La Crosse in 1862,1863, and 1864. He spent $80,000 on improvements to the Park, including dredging and filling in the marshy land. The City of La Crosse established two park districts and a Board of Park Commissioners on May 15, 1908, largely through A.W. Pettibone’s example.
In 1902 a beautiful gazebo was constructed of native Minnesota sandstone and is still enjoyed by visitors today. A bathhouse was constructed in 1903 and was replaced in 1926 with a bathhouse designed by Otto Merman in the Mediterranean Eclectic Revival style. This building is still standing and was renovated in 2001. In 1930 the Lagoon Shelter was constructed, and in 1931 the Lagoon Bridge was built. Photo: Elizabeth DeHaan
Launched in December, 2025, the Cairo African American Heritage Trail strives to educate the public on significant events and sites related to local, state, and national Black history rarely told, via online oral histories and physical locations.
Fort Defiance State Park where the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers can be viewed. Just south of Cairo IL that boosts Several Civil War era sites (including Underground Railroad) and houses.
Surrounded by the Mississippi and Trempealeau Rivers, the steep-sided Trempealeau Mountain is one of only three solid rock islands along the entire stretch of the Mississippi River. Standing 425 feet high, the mountain was used as an early navigational device by steamboat captains and other river travelers. The name is Trempealeau comes from the French, “la montagne qui trempe à l’eau” meaning “the mountain whose foot is bathed in water”. Trempealeau Mountain is owned by the DNR, as part of Perrot State Park and was designated a State Natural Area in 2002. Photo: Thomas A Meyer/DNR
The World’s Largest Six Pack is a roadside La Crosse attraction featuring six massive beer storage tanks painted to look like giant cans of beer. Originally part of the G. Heileman Brewing Company, these massive beer tanks can hold over 7 million cans worth of brew! Photo credit: Adam Saltmarsh.
Hixon House was built in 1858 by pioneer Gideon Hixon, who went on to become a wealthy lumber baron in La Crosse. The home has been caringly restored and contains many original furnishings. The Hixons helped finance Riverside Park and Grandad Bluff Park. Hixon House will reopen Spring 2026. Photo credit: Phil S Addis.
Along the Black River, the Eagle Watch offers a first-class show during early spring. As the ice melts, bird watchers flock to the overlook to observe and photograph the Bald Eagles feasting on spring’s fish. explorelacrosse.com
We went to Keokuk to look for geodes, and were told to talk to Kirk at the Dam Museum. So we did. We weren’t expecting the museum to be interesting, but boy were we wrong! It tells the story of the first dam across the entire Mississippi River. What an accomplishment for the time. They even have a virtual reality movie on it. I’ll be back to see it again! And to have Kirk crack my geode 😁
Source of the Mississippi River. Itasca State Park.