Driftless Coulees

The road

The glaciers missed this corner of Wisconsin, so the land was never flattened. WI-33 east of La Crosse climbs ridges and drops into coulees the whole way to Wildcat Mountain, and the detour north on WI-108 takes in the Mindoro Cut, a road hand-cut through solid sandstone at the turn of the last century.

Worth knowing

• Mindoro Cut on WI-108 — a narrow pass hewn through rock by hand
• Wildcat Mountain State Park overlook above the Kickapoo valley
• Sustained elevation change, which is rare this far into the Midwest

Before you go

• Amish horse-drawn buggies share these roads around Cashton. They are quiet, dark, and slow.
• Farm equipment on blind corners through the whole valley, especially at harvest.
• Valley fog sits late into autumn mornings and the shaded hairpins stay wet.

Best season

May to October; October for color in the coulees