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Highway 56: Genoa to Viola

Highway 56: Genoa to Viola is 32.3 miles of point-to-point riding through Vernon County in Wisconsin — the Coulee Region, the coulees, ridge tops and river bluffs of south-west Wisconsin. Moving time is about 37 minutes; allow 55 with stops — a quick spin. It is scored CS-3, Spirited: 49 corners, 121° of turning per mile, 1,905 feet of climbing. The roads it uses, in the order you ride them, are in the app.

Curviness
CS-3Spirited · 1.52/mi
Distance
32.3 mi37 min riding
Corners
4931% sharp · Sweeping
Climbing
1,905 ft59 ft/mi · Relentless
Shape
Point-to-pointQuick spin
Roads
Highway miles3% county & local
Traffic
1,700vehicles a day, median
Speed limit
55 mphtypically 55
Open this route in the app

About this road

Highway 56 from Genoa on the Mississippi inland toward Viola tells a clear river-to-ridge story through big climbing and open views. Genoa is a small river town; the inland country quickly becomes steep and rural. Sustained grades mark the transition from river corridor to interior Driftless. Starting at the water at Genoa and feeling the land rise under the wheels makes the geographic narrative physical. The point-to-point structure emphasizes the topographic progression toward Viola. Ideal when the goal is a clear elevation story from the Mississippi edge into the Coulee interior, or as a demanding connector within a larger river-and-ridge itinerary. The combination of sustained climbing and the changing character of the landscape makes the day purposeful and memorable. Start by the water at Genoa, climb into the hills toward Viola. The land rises with every mile.

How it rides

49 corners over 32.3 miles — 1.52 a mile, and 121° of turning for every mile ridden. That scores CS-3, Spirited on the five-point curviness scale. 31% of those corners are sharp ones, and the road reads as sweeping.

What it climbs

The road climbs 1,905 feet in total, 59 feet per mile, between 648 and 1,294 feet — 646 feet of relief. The longest single climb is 518 feet over 2.2 miles, and the steepest grade on it is 8.8%. By Driftless standards that is relentless.

Surface, speed and traffic

Paved end to end. 3% of it is back road rather than highway, the other 97% state or US route. Posted speeds run to 55 mph, typically 55, measured across 93% of the route. Where traffic counts exist — 25% of the miles — the median is 1,700 vehicles a day, busiest at mile 19.4 with 3,400.

Where to stop

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

Longest stretch without fuel: 19.4 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.

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