[lively music]
Wyalusing State Park overlooks the breathtaking confluence
of the Mississippi and Wisconsin Rivers.
The park has a lot to offer, from sweeping views
to scenic trails along the bluffs.
To learn more about this park,
I met with Park Ranger April Ammann.
- Well, as you can see behind you,
a big highlight or draw for us is the sweeping
views of the Mississippi River Valley. - It's beautiful.
- And then, the Wisconsin River Valley just north of here.
We also have a number of hiking trails.
- Very nice, I experienced those! - Did you, yeah?
- Yes. - How was it?
- I mean, I got a nice cardio session in.
I was surprised at how steep they were, actually.
- Yeah, yeah, good. - I didn't expect that.
- We have a few trails that start at the bottom of a bluff
and then you're climbing maybe 500 to 600 feet in one trip.
- Wow. - So yeah, it's a good workout!
- Angela: A workout that could lead you to trails
that pass living artifacts from Wisconsin's First Nations.
And I noticed as we were coming up here,
there are some effigy mounds,
so can you tell us about those as well?
- Sure, the effigy mounds were constructed by past cultures,
specifically what would be called
the Hopewell mound-building culture.
And then after them, another mound-building culture.
And some are in the shapes of what we call
circular or conical mounds.
The effigy specifically refers to mounds
in the shape of an animal.
So they can be in the shape of a bear or a deer, or an eagle,
sometimes seen along the river valley here.
- Very nice, so preserving some of that culture.
- Absolutely, yep, they've been here for hundreds of years
so it's exciting that they're still here.
- That's excellent, so tourists can come,
experience some culture,
take in the breathtaking views.
I saw the campsites; they can set up and just enjoy
an awesome camping experience with their families.
- Yes, yep, along with the views of the Mississippi,
we have several sites that are open where you're camping,
you're havin' a campfire at night
and you're overlooking the river valley
and the city of Prairie du Chien.
- Angela: Campfires aren't the only thing
to experience as night falls.
The park is also home to an amateur astronomy group.
I met with Kyle Kern,
a member of this nonprofit organization.
- We're here at the Wyalusing State Park Observatory.
We're a group called the Starsplitters of Wyalusing.
We're a charitable organization that runs completely
on the donations from people that come and visit.
- Wow, and so tell us,
why would a state park have an observatory?
That just seems different compared to other parks that we've been to.
- Yeah, a lot of state parks have great trails,
and I'm sure you've seen 'em here,
and great views and things like that.
But we offer views of the night sky,
of objects that are millions and millions
of light years away, and things that you can't
normally see with just the naked eye,
so I think that's somethin' special that we really offer.
- That is, and I see a lot of really cool,
sci-fi-looking equipment behind us.
- Yeah, we're very lucky to have all the equipment we have.
We've had a lot of generous donations
from multiple families in the area.
On the night of a program, we typically come out here
and we pull these telescopes that are down
on this pad out of the shed that's behind us,
and roll 'em right out here, and we use 'em.
We'll have sometimes lines of 30 or 40 people
behind each telescope,
comin' up and lookin' at what we have in the eyepiece.
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- Angela: So how can people become involved?
- So if they just come out here,
we have a website, starsplitters.org,
or you can find us on the Wyalusing State Park website.
And then our calendar is on there, when we're out here.
And if they just come up and say,
"Hey, I'm interested in being a part of your group."
We'd be happy to show you how to get goin' in that.
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