The Great River Trail Photos 3
West Salem, Lake Onalaska, Trempealeau

I actually started my Great River Trail (GRT) bike ride on the connecting LaCrosse River Trail in West Salem, Wisconsin. This is about 7 miles east of the GRT. I also bought my Wisconsin BIke Trail pass here ($4 for 1 day) at a local community center.

I thought that I left in plenty of time to do this part of the trail and the entire Great River Trail. I was mistaken. I rode 64 miles both ways and ran out of daylight before I got back.

 

Just after you get on the Great River Trail in Onalaska you pass through a small stretch of town and then come to these openings where you get some GREAT VIEWS of Lake Onalaska. This body of water is where the Mississippi and Black Rivers meet and merge.

I had intended to take the photos for this ride on my way back from Trempealeau, Wi's. but I took a few, like this one, earlier in the day which was fortunate since this is facing mostly west and it can be difficult getting photos here late in the day. I do have some photos of this area from my way back later on in this photo tour.

 

This is the longest bridge on the GRT which is located north of the small towns of Midway and Brice Prairie where the Black River first flows into the Mississippi river system north of Lake Onalaska. This is a really long bridge with some scenic views that are worth stopping for and checking out.

 

The southern end of the bridge has the high iron support beams. As you ride further along the bridge you just see the wooden rails and surface which are show in the photos that I took on my ride back.

 

OK, this is the northwestern end of the Great River Trail, at the Trempealeau Wildlife Refuge where I turned around to head back south and east and to get the remainder of the photos for this ride.

I had ridden through the Wildlife Refuge and was actually not very impressed with it. There wasn't much to see ~ from the trail anyway ~ and there are much more scenic parts of this trail.

 

The photo above is the GR Trail (on the right) and a small road for cars that runs parallel to it on the left. I never actually saw a car on this small road so you could choose either one to easily ride on. There are streams and wetlands on both sides of these paths.

 

This is the only actual "wildlife" that I saw in the Wildlife Refuge. This guy was crossing the road a little ways from the park entrance.

I stopped for the photo and to get him off the road since this was not the safest place for him to hang out if a car came by. He was not too happy about me trying to move him but reluctantly agreed to get off the rode on his own while he went after my feet and looked like he wanted to make a meal out of my toes! You talk about close encounters with dangerous wildlife!

 

The GRT looks kind of like a dirt and gravel road at this point as you come out of the Trempealeau Wildlife Refuge and head back south towards the town of Trempealeau.