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Ettrick–Taylor–Melrose Backroads

Ettrick–Taylor–Melrose Backroads is 56.4 miles of loop riding through Trempealeau and La Crosse Counties in Wisconsin — the Coulee Region, the coulees, ridge tops and river bluffs of south-west Wisconsin. Moving time is about 75 minutes; allow 110 with stops — a half day. It is scored CS-2, Easy: 61 corners, 105° of turning per mile, 1,852 feet of climbing. The roads it uses, in the order you ride them, are in the app.

Curviness
CS-2Easy · 1.08/mi
Distance
56.4 mi75 min riding
Corners
6152% sharp · Tight
Climbing
1,852 ft33 ft/mi · Rolling
Shape
LoopHalf day
Roads
Backroads65% county & local
Traffic
2,300vehicles a day, median
Speed limit
55 mphtypically 55
Open this route in the app

About this road

The Ettrick, Taylor, and Melrose area occupies transitional country between the Black River and the deeper coulees. Quiet, scenic roads with honest but not extreme climbing define the experience. A good choice for riders seeking authentic rural Wisconsin without the most famous name-brand destinations. Lack of traffic and continuous landscape quality are the consistent rewards around Ettrick, Taylor, and Melrose. Ideal for recovery days, quiet exploration, or as a contrast to the more famous Kickapoo and Mississippi corridors. The sense of place is strong; the demand is moderate; the solitude is nearly complete. Also a peaceful connector within a larger regional itinerary that includes both the interior Coulee country and the river edge. Every mile reinforces the same quiet, working-landscape character. No famous names required. The land is enough.

How it rides

61 corners over 56.4 miles — 1.08 a mile, and 105° of turning for every mile ridden. That scores CS-2, Easy on the five-point curviness scale. 52% of those corners are sharp ones, and the road reads as tight.

What it climbs

The road climbs 1,852 feet in total, 33 feet per mile, between 738 and 1,174 feet — 436 feet of relief. The longest single climb is 263 feet over 4.3 miles, and the steepest grade on it is 9.3%. By Driftless standards that is rolling.

Surface, speed and traffic

Paved end to end. 65% of it is back road rather than highway, the other 35% state or US route. Posted speeds run to 55 mph, typically 55, measured across 16% of the route. Where traffic counts exist — 23% of the miles — the median is 2,300 vehicles a day, busiest at mile 9.1 with 6,200.

Where to stop

3 of the towns on this road have somewhere to stop — 1 fuel, 4 bars.

Longest stretch without fuel: 46.5 miles. Worth knowing before you set off if your tank is small.

Listed alphabetically, and chosen by us rather than rated by anybody. The order you reach them, and the mile each one sits at, are in the app.

Worth knowing

Turn-by-turn directions and the spoken guidance are in the app. Every figure on this page is measured from the route itself — corner counts and gradients from the road geometry, elevation from the national elevation dataset, traffic from the state transport departments where counts exist.

Nearby roads