Apple Blossom Overlook Park’s New Look

Looking towards the southeast
from the prairie

Last January I did an update on the happenings at Apple Blossom Overlook Park. The quick recap is that Winona County undertook a big project to have a portion of the forest that had come to obscure the blufftop vistas logged off. 

Everything looked rough as the forest mowing and logging was being done in the cold, sere winter with muddy trails chewed up by the heavy equipment- but the views that were opened up to the river and bluffs were spectacular even then.

I returned recently to check out the results. It is nothing short of amazing. Huge swaths of sumac that were crowding into the trails  on the prairie were removed. The prairies now have their own widened views of prairie forbs and pollinators. 

And, with the forest canopy dressed in its lush green coat of summer foliage, the park has once more taken its place as one of the more dramatic overlooks above the upper Mississippi River. There are clear views of Lock and Dam 7, the airport, Hwy 90, parts of La Crosse and the Wisconsin bluffs. 

I hope you check it out. Here are just a few shots of the transformation to encourage you to drop by for a hike and some great view.

After - 2026 eastern river view after logging

Before - 2015 riverview before logging
Image - Nola Larson

2026 - Lock & Dam 7 is visible from the trails

2026 - a northeastern view from the top of the Overlook trail

2026 - another northeastern view
further down the same trail

2026 - no sumac looking west up into the prairie

 

Big thanks go out to the Winona County staff, Kevin O'Brien, the Friends of Apple Blossom Overlook park, Anne Morse and the Winona County Parks and Environmental Advisory Committee for the foresight and hard work and planning to bring this project to its curretn point!

Additional posts on Apple Blossom Overlook Park:

• Apple Blossom Viewshed Restoration Work, January 26, 2026
• Apple Blossom Overlook (MN) Park, January 17, 2024

Images, unless noted - Marge Loch-Wouters

Apple Blossom Viewshed Restoration Work

Those of you who have been to Apple Blossom Overlook Park in Winona County over the past eight weeks have seen some logging, forest mowing and significant changes. What's up?

A major project has been undertaken to restore the vistas in the park. This park boasts the second highest overlook on the Upper Mississippi River system. However, over the years, some of the forests, as forests will, have grown tall enough to obscure major parts of the view. There were large stands of clonal poplar trees that proliferated in the forest. The picture below from ten years ago doesn't show the proliferation of this fast growing tree that further obscured the views but gives you a sense of how much view was gobbled up.

July 2015  overlook view-  Nola Larson

Over the last few years, the Winona County staff, along with the knowledgeable Winona County Parks and Environment Advisory Committee, strategized how to restore the vistas. They met with longtime area residents who described the former views; worked with the MN Conservation Corps, foresters,  silviculturalists and many others to figure out the best course of action.  In addition to the logging needed, decisions on dealing with invasive sumac; providing interpretive signs and amenities like benches; installing a paved, landscaped viewing area; adding prairie plantings and continuing prairie care were considered and planned for.

In December 2025, two trails were closed and the sumac removal and the tree clearing began. By early January, most of the cutting was done. Some of the lumber was sold to help pay for the project. Slash will be removed and the existing trails repaired over the next few months.

January 2026 - A restored vista in the logged area.

The loss of forest and trees is always difficult to see. But while it's initially jarring to look at the cleared landscape, it is also exhilarating to see the incredible views of the river, the lock and dam, the interstate and the bluffs that have long been hidden.. 

The overlook can now be looked over. The planners expect that the clean-up and trail repairs will be done by summer and all trails open again.  I look forward to returning once the work is done to enjoy the views, take in the beautiful prairies and hike the trails again.

Images, unless noted - Marge Loch-Wouters

Additional posts on Apple Blossom Overlook Park:

• Apple Blossom Overlook Park's New Look, July 8, 2026
• Apple Blossom Overlook (MN) Park, January 17, 2024

You can read my column on seasonal hiking suggestions in the quarterly Inspire(d) Driftless Magazine available online or pick up a free copy at businesses and organizations around the Driftless areas of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa.

Stoney Point Forest Restoration Project Under Way

La Crescent's Vetsch Park is one of two bluff parks that are in the city. There has been alot happening in the Stoney Point section of this park this past fall and winter. Anyone who has been up North 1st St has seen the remarkable cleared area. Here's the story.

Top - Stoney Point before forest mowing
Jason Ludwigson
Bottom - Stoney after forest mowing -
Olivia Schmidt - HometownArgus.com

The city and its Natural Resources Advisory Group (I am currently a member) spent considerable time over the past two years removing woody invasives like buckthorn and roundleaf bittersweet from some of the upper slopes of Stoney. 

But those tangled lower slopes….

We worked with a MN DNR Forester who walked the woods and evaluated it to see how the city could best manage these invasive that literally had taken over the lower slopes of Stoney. Brush, invasives, undesirable hardwoods left a tangled mess. Our  forester suggested forest mowing.

The city wrote a MN DNR Conservation Partners Legacy Grant to fund forest mowing by a contractor beginning in fall of 2024. Before the mowing, city staff walked the land and marked healthy native trees that should remain. The snowless early winter allowed the contractor to complete the mowing of the lower slopes. Large trees were removed and the woody remains of the brush became mulch.

The before and after picture above shows the difference.

The city did a great job of keeping the public informed before starting the process with public meetings, signage at the park and around the city and information on their website. They plan to continue updating the page during the process. You can read about it at their webpage and FAQ page. For those wanting a deeper dive, you can access a series of slides  showing the work progress for the first phase of forest marking and mowing as of February 19, 2025. This slide set will be updated as the forest reforestation continues.

This three year project includes handcutting and localized herbicide treatment to treat regrowth in the spring and fall of 2025 and 2026 followed by native hardwood plantings in 2026 to complete the restoration project. 

Mowed on the left; unmowed on the right
Image - Marge Loch-Wouters

When I walked the mowed area, it was astonishing to see the difference. I'm proud to be a La Crescent resident when I see this work of caring for this wonderful natural resource. It will be fun to watch the coming changes - and help plant the trees!

The Caledonia Argus newspaper published a great article explaining the project. Restoring Stoney Point: La Crescent’s effort to revive native forests | Local News | hometownsource.com

Why is That Bluffside Black?

Have you ever headed up La Crosse's Bliss Road towards Grandad's Bluff and glimpsed a blackened bluffside across the valley to your left? 

Hixon Forest's Zoerb Prairie after late January 2025 prescribed burn
Image - Jonathan Rigdon

If you have, then you've been seeing one part of the dedicated work of the Friends of the Blufflands and Coulee Region Chapter of The Prairie Enthusiasts burn crews and volunteers in Hixon Forest. Members of these two groups of volunteers are responsible for the cleared and healthy prairie remnants that these blackened areas represent. 

Our Driftless areas have many small remnant prairies dotted here and there. 

Prairies need fire to do well. Without them, woody invasives easily take over. The deep-rooted prairie plants can't compete with taller plants and some of the seeds need the fire for germination as well. A prairie that is regularly burned during a prescribed burn is healthier.

Zoerb prairie burn in progress
Image - Justin Nooker

It takes a burn crew to do this work of a prescribed burn. A recent Friends of the Blufflands blog post by Jonathan Rigdon, Anatomy of a Prairie Burn, has a great explanation about how these burns are conducted. 

The results of a burn are nothing short of extraordinary. As spring begins, the flowers and grasses return and within a few weeks, you can't even tell an area was burned. When you see these beautiful prairies in their warm weather glory, it's easy to take for granted their flower and grass-filled vistas. 

A healthy prairie at Hixon
Image - Marge Loch-Wouters

Beyond fires, it takes real and consistent prairie management by dedicated Friends of the Blufflands/The Prairie Enthusiasts volunteers to keep the Hixon Forest (and other nearby) bluff prairies open and healthy. Their work includes removing woody invasives (trees and brush), gathering and broadcasting seed, grant writing, collaboration with surrounding communities and organizations and monitoring a host of Driftless prairies. 

This recent Friends of the Blufflands blog post Restoration Begins on Birch Point Prairie! discussing the work on the Birch Prairie restoration project gives a great peek into the work involved, the history and importance of our prairies and how many prairies these groups maintain.

When you take a hike sometime in upper Hixon Forest's Bicentennial trail (across the road from the weatherball) onto the Birch Trail and then on to Vista, you can see the changes coming and in progress on the Birch, Zoerb and Lookout prairies. I blogged about this three prairies hike here.

While you may not be able to participate in the preparation work, you can still support these two organizations through your memberships or donations at The Prairie Enthusiasts and Friends of the Blufflands.

Great work, my friends.