Visit the Driftless Area of Wisconsin

Aug 26, 2025

The Driftless Region in Wisconsin features stunning scenery, unparalleled outdoor activities and adventure, charming countryside towns, and sprawling landscapes featuring rolling hills, deep valleys, and winding rivers and stress. The topography of the region is characterized by its ancient bedrock outcroppings instead of glacially carved landscapes. You’ll find plentiful fun in its waterways from canoeing and kayaking to fishing and swimming. Hiking trails are so numerous you’ll want to pack an extra pair of hiking boots to make the trip. And if you’re into stargazing, you just can’t beat it as a Dark Skies region! The Driftless region is just an outdoor lover’s paradise woven into a rich tapestry of historic and cultural sites in American history. You simply must experience it for yourself! So, what are you waiting for? Hop in your new car from Classic and let’s hit the road to adventure!

Exploring the History of Driftless Region

The Bevans Lead Mine and Rollo Jamison Museums offer tours of the Bevans Lead Mine, including rides in a 1931 mine train. This historic site chronicles the history of mining and natural history and science in the Driftless Region. Exhibits here include mining artifacts and dioramas, Women’s Suffragette Voting Movement, a musical instrument exhibit, Rollo’s collections of children’ s toys and games, a military exhibit, and more.

Brisbois House and Fur Trade Museum was built in the early 1850s by fur trader and merchant BW Brisbois, and offers visitors a peek into the past at early 19th century life and the fur trade. It’s one of the oldest stone houses in Wisconsin!

Cuba City is known as “The City of Presidents”, and it features 46 shields which line up and down main street; each shield features the name and silhouette and term details of 46 US Presidents.

Folklore Village is a nationally recognized center for artistic and cultural programming with more than 100 different events year round. This 94 acre property includes historic sites and buildings such as Farewell Hall, Wakefield School, Plum Grove Church, the historic home of Aslak Olsen Lie, and a Tall Grass Prairie Restoration Project natural preserve area. Enjoy the organization’s historic preservation projects, family friendly activities, folklife education programs, concerts with master folk artists, folk culture retreats, and even their famous Saturday Night Potluck and Social Dance events.

Fort Crawford Museum encompasses 3 exhibits dedicated to local and medical history and Civil War Era history. The facilities include the Fort Crawford Military Hospital, one of hte only remaining structures from the second Fort Crawford; the Museum of Prairie du Chien featuring exhibits on the history of local development, archaeological findings, and personal and agricultural artifacts; the Visitor Center which includes a museum store with local goods and a vast library with books on local history, medical history, and school annuals.

The Mounds of Wisconsin refers to both burial and effigy mounds built by regional Native American people, as well as geographic mounds that give The Driftless Area those distinctive hills and ridges. Check out this great guide to the mounds of Wisconsin and add your favorites to your itinerary.

Northern Wisconsin Co-Op Tobacco Pool Warehouse, also known as the Bekkedal Leaf Tobacco Warehouse, is a remnant from the tobacco farming era in the region, largely run by Norwegian immigrant farmers in the area. The building houses offices, a receiving room, sorting and packing room, and “sweating rooms” used to cure tobacco.

Vernon County Museum was once a training school for teachers, now turned into a historic museum and local research center. Exhibits include the teaching classroom, archaeological exhibits, military history displays, a general store, an exhibit dedicated to Astronaut Mark Lee, and agricultural exhibits.

The Driftless Region, For Nature Lovers

Whether you’re exploring the Kickapoo River Valley or Mississippi River Valley, you’ll be able to immerse yourself in lush forests, winding hiking trails, wildflower fields, prairies, wetlands, and more. It offers a real nature enthusiast’s dream! Outdoor activities here are plentiful: birding, biking, boating, camping, canoeing. Fishing, dark skies, hiking, horseback riding, hunting, road touring, winter sports.

The Wisconsin Great River Road Scenic Byway follows 250-miles of scenic roadway known for stunning views, historic attractions, picturesque river towns, and hiking trails.

In the Mississippi River Valley, there are several nature parks and preserves to explore. Pike’s Peak State Park covers 964 acres of land featuring a 500-foot bluff overlooking the Upper Mississippi River with unparalleled views of the region, especially at the confluence of the Wisconsin River and Mississippi River. Potosi Point Recreation Area is a designated National Wildlife Refuge that sees more than 270 species of birds in their annual migrations, and offers plentiful opportunities to enjoy some peaceful camping. Rush Creek Natural Area is a fishing hole and nature preserve featuring a two-mile-long series of dry prairies, oak forest, and 400-foot limestone-capped bluffs along the Mississippi River. Upper Mississippi National Wildlife and Fish Refuge is an impressive 240,000 acre, 261-mile long National wildlife refuge with wooded islands, hardwood forests, and sloughs; it’s perfect for camping, hunting, fishing, and wildlife observation, and well known for its canoe and kayaking water trails. Wyalusing State Park is one of Wisconsin’s Oldest State Parks and features numerous campsites, hiking trails, a canoe trail, Native American Burial Grounds, and plenty of scenic views of the Mississippi River and Wisconsin River.

The Kickapoo River Valley is where you’ll find the longest tributary of the Wisconsin River, the Kickapoo River, clocking in at 125 miles in length as it winds from Wilton to Wauzeka. The Ocooch Mountains are located here in the Western Upland area, and feature plentiful high hills, bluffs, and ridges thanks to the lack of glacial drift; the area is home to hundreds of small farms, artisans, musicians, and adventure seekers. Kickapoo Valley Reserve is a massive tract of land covering 8,569 acres for outdoorsy folks to enjoy everything from hunting to fishing to camping to kayaking to horseback riding, and it has a wide diversity of plant and animal life to explore. Wildcat Mountain State Park is located on a ridge above the Kickapoo River featuring sandstone bluffs with limestone via Wildcat Mountain and Mount Pisgah; stop off here for camping, water sports, fishing, hiking on more than 20 miles of trails, and lots of wildlife spotting.