The Friends of the Wisconsin Great River Road was organized as a 501(C)(3) for charitable and educational purposes to promote, preserve, and protect the Wisconsin Great River Road. Friends will also work with our communities, organizations, businesses, and park and recreational entities in the counties of Pierce, Pepin, Buffalo, Trempealeau, La Crosse, Vernon, Crawford, and Grant, Wisconsin to support both the region and our National Scenic Byway & All-American Road.

From: Sherry Quamme, Chairperson

Dear WI Mississippi River Parkway Commissioners, Committees, Supporters and Partners
I am sharing my decision to step down as the Chairperson for the WI Mississippi River Parkway Commission effective Thursday, October 1, 2026. Kris Sampson, WIMRPC's Vice Chair, will become the Chairperson on that date. Carol Wiersma will then be appointed by Kris to fill the vacant position of Vice Chair-WIMRPC. Thank you both for this leadership.

This is a step that is a result of our succession planning and the work on this will continue over the next several months. I will remain on the WIMRPC as the Gubernatorial Appointee from Crawford County for WIMRPC. The plan is for me to continue to work on the projects I have been involved in and as Kris Sampson asks me to do.

Being the Chairperson of WIMRPC has been a great honor and has been very rewarding on many fronts. Together, the partnership with all of you has produced serious results to improve the WI Great River Road and our National Scenic Bpvay. We have all lifted up this National Scenic Byway and can be proud of the path we are on. There is more to come.

Thank you for the honor of being your WIMRPC Chairperson since 2015!

Best Regards,
Sherry Quamme

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Ken Notes: Sherry is not going far, She remains a member of the commission, will continue to work with Friends, and is always a phone call away. Please join Friends Of Wisconsin Great River Road in congratulating Sherry on all that she has done for our road and the State of Wisconsin!

Volunteer work included brush clearing and trail repair

La Crosse, WI—Dairyland Power Cooperative and GridLiance Heartland, LLC, employees participated in brush clearing and site improvements at Old Settler’s Overlook in Vernon County as part of a volunteer project. The work was done in partnership with the Wisconsin Mississippi River Parkway Commission and the MariBell Transmission Project team.

Zielies Tree Service also provided volunteer time on the environmental stewardship project.

“The work at Old Settler’s Overlook, which expands the view and removes invasive species, is transformational,” said Sherry Quamme, Chair, Wisconsin Mississippi River Parkway Commission. “This is an iconic site on the Wisconsin Great River Road-All American Road. The stewardship project will positively impact tourism for Vernon County.”

The site, a scenic destination with vast views of the Mississippi River between Stoddard and Genoa, Wis., was selected due to extensive overgrowth and the need for improvements to sightlines. Volunteers from Dairyland and GridLiance Heartland raked, collected debris, repaired trails and maintained the site property.

“Old Settler’s Overlook is a hidden gem for Vernon County and the entire Driftless Region,” said Dairyland Senior Transmission Project Manager Dylan Alitz. “Guided by the Cooperative Principle of Concern for Community, we are proud to be part of these improvements for the community to enjoy.”...

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Ken Notes: Thank you Dairyland Power Cooperative and Zielies Tree Service. This is a very special place on the Great River Road -- come check it out!

There’s a lot to celebrate along the Great River Road this month!

First, some fantastic news: FHWA announced the latest National Scenic Byways Program grant awards, and the Great River Road received a grant for our 10-state project!

The grant will support the development of a new 10-state Great River Road website and app, a major step forward in connecting travelers with the Great River Road as one continuous, iconic national experience.

A special thank you to the Tennessee Department of Transportation for serving as the applicant on behalf of all 10 Great River Road states and helping make this opportunity possible. And thank you to everyone across the MRPC who supported the application by reviewing drafts, providing input, submitting letters of support and helping shape the project, which was initially submitted in December 2024. This was truly a collaborative 10-state effort, and it’s exciting to see that work rewarded.

Congratulations as well to the Wisconsin Great River Road, which received a grant for digital media marketing. You can see the full list of awards here: https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/hep/scenic_byways/grants/2024_awards/

And the timing couldn’t be better as we prepare to gather in West Memphis for the National Scenic Byways Conference on October 6–8. We now have 29 states registered, bringing together Great River Road representatives and byway leaders from across the country.

If you’ve been thinking about attending, this is your last chance to join us. I still have a few hotel rooms available, so please contact me as soon as possible if you’d like to be part of the celebration, conversations, and excitement.

Finally, Happy Drive the Great River Road Month! And don’t forget that September 22 is National Scenic Byway Day. This year’s celebration is especially meaningful as 2026 marks the 100th anniversary of the U.S. Numbered Highway System, another great reason to celebrate the roads, communities, and experiences that connect us.

There is a lot of momentum around scenic byways right now, and it’s exciting to see the Great River Road right in the middle of it.

Congratulations to everyone who helped make these successes possible, and I hope to see many of you in West Memphis!

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When people think about the Great River Road Visitor and Learning Center at Freedom Park in Prescott, they often think of the spectacular view of the Mississippi River, the beautiful bluff line or perhaps stopping in to pick up a map before continuing their journey along Wisconsin's Great River Road.

But there is so much more to this special place than meets the eye. Here are a few things you may not know about the Great River Road Visitor and Learning Center and Freedom Park.

The 4-acre bluff overlooking the confluence of the Mississippi and St. Croix rivers has been a special place for more than a century. The park originally opened to the public in 1918 under the name Scenic Tourist Park. In 1981, the park became the release site for a rehabilitated bald eagle named Freedom. The eagle became a symbol of conservation efforts to restore the declining bald eagle population. In 1982, the park was renamed Freedom Park in his honor....

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About Oktoberfest USA
September 24–27, 2026
La Crosse Wisconsin

Willkommen to the longest-running Oktoberfest in the Midwest

Raise a stein and prost to Gemütlichkeit and cheer since 1961!

Our Origins

Oktoberfest USA in La Crosse first came to life on October 13–15, 1961, though the idea had been in the works for months prior. In 1960, civic leaders recognized that La Crosse needed a community-wide celebration, something the city hadn’t hosted since a winter carnival in 1921. While winter events posed challenges—unpredictable weather, high costs for artificial ice and snow, and competition from other regional festivals—the fall offered the perfect solution...

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