Wildcat Mountain State Park

Wildcat Mountain lies in the heart of the Driftless Area, the unglaciated region of the upper Midwest that the last ice sheets flowed around rather than over. Everywhere else, the glaciers scraped the land smooth and filled the valleys with debris called drift, but here the old river-carved terrain survived untouched, leaving the steep ridges, deep hollows, and rocky bluffs that make the park so rugged.

This ancient, unglaciated landscape is why the Kickapoo winds so tightly. The river has been cutting its valley for a very long time, and its endless meanders reflect an old, mature drainage that the ice never reset. The whole region is a window onto what much of the Midwest looked like before the glaciers, a country of hills and hollows rather than plains, and Wildcat Mountain is one of the best places to take it in.

The Kickapoo valley is part of the ancestral country of the Ho-Chunk, whose long presence in this region reaches back generations, and the river's name itself comes from a native word. The valley has been a place of travel, hunting, and living for a very long time, and that deep history is part of the land the park protects.

In more recent times the valley became farm country, and today it is home to a substantial Amish community whose horse-drawn buggies, tidy farms, and roadside stands give the back roads around the park a distinctive character. The Kickapoo Valley Reserve nearby preserves a large tract of this landscape, a reminder of both the natural beauty and the layered human story of the crooked river's country.

The park's overlooks are its signature, high sandstone perches that open onto sweeping views of the Kickapoo winding through its valley far below and the ridges rolling off toward the horizon. Trails for hiking and horseback riding climb and dip through the steep terrain, threading forests of oak, maple, and pine and passing quiet hollows and rock outcrops.

Down in the valley, the Kickapoo River is a favorite for canoes and kayaks, a gentle, twisting float between bluffs that shows the Driftless country from water level. Paddlers put in and take out at points up and down the valley, drifting past the very hills they might climb in the park, so the experience of Wildcat Mountain can be had from both the heights and the water.

Spring greens the valley and swells the river, a lively time for paddling, though high water after heavy rain calls for caution. Summer is the fullest season, warm and leafy, good for hiking the ridges and drifting the cool river beneath the bluffs.

Autumn is the showpiece, when the steep wooded hills of the Driftless blaze with color and the overlooks give some of the finest fall views in the state. Winter quiets the valley, and while paddling ends, the snow-hushed ridges and frozen river bends offer solitude and the stark beauty of the bare Driftless hills.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.