Grandad Bluff (also Granddad Bluff) is a bluff on the east side of
La Crosse, Wisconsin
La Crosse ( ) is a city in La Crosse County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. Positioned alongside the Mississippi River, La Crosse is the largest city on Wisconsin's western border. La Crosse's population was 52,680 as of the 202 ...
. It is approximately above the surrounding land and above sea level. Bliss Road provides access to the bluff.
A park shelter in a fenced-off area atop the bluff provides visitors with a view of La Crosse. It contains a panoramic photo of La Crosse taken in 2004, with annotations of La Crosse landmarks. Locations visible from the bluff include the
University of Wisconsin–La Crosse
The University of Wisconsin–La Crosse (UWL or UW–La Crosse) is a public research university in La Crosse, Wisconsin, United States. Established in 1909, it is part of the University of Wisconsin System and offers bachelor's, master's, and ...
, the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
, bluffs in
Minnesota
Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...
, and
Interstate 90
Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain states, Mountain West, Great Pla ...
.
Geology
The landscape has a geomorphically young appearance because of its
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...
history. The Mississippi River probably did not occupy this course before the Pleistocene. The bluffs along this portion of the Mississippi River consist of
dolomite of the Prairie du Chien Group capping
Cambrian
The Cambrian ( ) is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 51.95 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran period 538.8 Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Ordov ...
sandstone
Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
. Grandad Bluff is a classic
mesa
A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge, or hill, bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and standing distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks, such as shales, capped by a ...
, as are all the bluffs along the river.
History
The land comprising much of Grandad Bluff was first purchased from the state by Judge George Gale in July 1851. Between 1851 and 1912, there were 83 transfers of the property. The bluff was used as a source of construction materials, and its limestone was quarried for many years. The bluff was to be sold for large-scale quarrying, however the La Crosse residents were outraged by the plans. To save the bluff from ruin, Ellen Hixon and her son Joseph, a prominent La Crosse family, purchased the land in 1909. The family held the property in trust until 1912 when the land was donated as a park to the city of La Crosse. A group of residents, led by Ellen Hixon, raised $15,000 to construct roads and purchase more land around the bluff. The area below Grandad Bluff became the center of
Hixon Forest, which continues to serve as a popular hiking area.
In 1928 there was a movement to change the name of the bluff to Granddad Mountain, and to name the series of bluffs along the Mississippi River "The Mississippi Mountain Range".
[William L. Doudna, "Bluff or Mountain?" ''La Crosse Tribune'', July 10, 1928.]
A shelter was constructed in Grandad Bluff Park in 1938 by the
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...
using stone quarried from the south side of the bluff. In 1941, a flagpole was erected by the La Crosse chapter of
Reserve Officers Association
The ROA (d/b/a Reserve Organization of America) is a professional association of commissioned officers, non-commissioned officers, former officers, enlisted and spouses of the uniformed services of the United States, primarily with the Reserv ...
using money raised by schoolchildren. Eleven years later, in 1952, a rustic split rail fence of native oak was constructed, along with two new picnic areas with parking. The shelter was wired with electricity in 1954, and public restrooms were constructed about ten years later. A new pump house was built in 1976. Landscaping projects were completed during the 1980s, and a new flagpole was erected by the La Crosse
Jaycees
The United States Junior Chamber, also known as the Jaycees, JCs or JCI USA, is a leadership training service organization and civic organization for people between the ages of 18 and 40. It is a branch of Junior Chamber International (JCI). A ...
in 1994.
In 2015, a statue of Ellen Hixon was dedicated on top of Grandad Bluf

Since 1929, the La Crosse Skyrockers organization has conducted a fireworks show from atop Grandad Bluff at midnight on New Year's Eve. The show is patterned after the New Year's fireworks show that takes place over
Pikes Peak
Pikes Peak is the List of mountain ranges of Colorado#Mountain ranges, highest summit of the southern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains in North America. The Ultra-prominent peak, ultra-prominent fourteener is located in Pike National Forest, ...
in
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
.
References
External links
City of Lacrosse Parks Department page on Grandad Park *
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060902020335/http://csumc.wisc.edu/gallery/album37 Photos of Grandad BluffTopographical Map of Grandad Bluff
{{coord, 43, 48, 51, N, 091, 12, 32, W, display=title
Landforms of La Crosse County, Wisconsin
La Crosse, Wisconsin
Driftless Area
Parks in Wisconsin
Protected areas of La Crosse County, Wisconsin
Mesas of the United States
Works Progress Administration in Wisconsin
Cliffs of Wisconsin