Northland Outdoors writer Jess Myers toured Minnesota’s state parks and the Great River Bluffs State Park was one of the 20 sites he visited. The park is located south of Winona and is a part of Minnesota’s Driftless region, where the glaciers missed the southeastern corner of MN 2.5 million years ago. The park is hundreds of feet above the Mississippi River Valley and is known for its beautiful vistas from many viewpoints.
“From Highway 61 between Winona and LaCrosse, Wis., a winding county road carries motorists up to the top of the towering bluffs, where a network of relatively easy hiking trails fans out in multiple directions. For people who live in the Mississippi valley nearby, the park is a kind of hidden gem for the region.”
Myers interviewed Emily Kurash Casey who serves on the Visit Winona Board of Directors and is also an avid outdoors person.
“I feel like it’s one of those overlooked state parks,” Kurash Casey said. “It’s very small, it doesn’t have Gooseberry Falls or something iconic like that, but the vistas from Great River Bluffs, in my opinion, are some of the best of the Mississippi River valley in southeast Minnesota. It’s good to visit in all seasons. We hike there in the winter often, and I know cross country skiers really love it in the winter. It’s even got a sledding hill.”