Each year, La Crosse attracts more than one million visitors, as people from across the globe are attracted by the natural beauty andrecreational opportunities offered by the upper Mississippi River area—not to mention the region’s rich history, unique attractions and variety of great shopping, dining and cultural offerings. Whether you’re stopping over for a short trip or looking for the perfect spot for an extended getaway,La Crosse is the ideal destination for you.

Ideally located between the tall, limestone bluffs and the mighty Mississippi River, La Crosse is in the heart of what is known as the “Driftless Region” – an area of Western Wisconsin and Southeastern Minnesota that was spared the flattening effects of the Ice Age glaciers that covered two thirds of North America. With its steep, hardwood-studded hills and deep valleys intact, the region’s rugged beauty is unequaled anywhere in the Midwest.

The geography of the La Crosse area has drawn travelers since early mammoth hunters were first attracted to the confluence of the three rivers: the Mississippi River, the Black River and the La Crosse River. According to Native American legend, big winds will not blow where three bodies of water meet… and to date, no tornado in recorded history has touched down here. In 1680, a band of French voyageurs led by Fr. Louis Hennepin were the first Europeans to stumble upon the gathering rivers; a later group of French fur traders witnessed the native Ho-Chunk people playing a game similar to their own game of lacrosse, and named the area Prairie La Crosse. The area became permanently settled by whites when in 1842 fur trader Nathan Myrick built a cabin on Barron Island, now the site of Pettibone

Park. The next year he moved across the channel and laid out what is now La Crosse—a town that would become the home of Wild West characters like Frank Powell (a.k.a. “White Beaver”) and his good friend “Buffalo Bill” Cody and would be called by Mark Twain “a choice town.” Many of the buildings Twain lauded as “architecturally fine enough to command respect in any city” are still here today, in a progression of styles from the early Victorian and Italianate, to the Chicago Commercial, Art Deco and Art Modern buildings of the midtwentieth century—all found along a short walk from Second Street to Fifth Avenue.

Whoever wrote the bit about “idle hands” wasn’t hanging out here. With an abundance of natural beauty, woods, water and wildlife, La Crosse offers much in the way of recreation. Skiing, golfing, hunting and fishing, hiking, canoeing, kayaking, waterskiing or swimming – if you want to be active, we’re here to help. If you’re just looking for peace, quiet and relaxation, there’s plenty of that, too…but no one said it had to be boring.