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Perrot Ridge & River: Holmen to Arcadia

Perrot Ridge & River: Holmen to Arcadia is 47.3 miles of point-to-point riding through La Crosse and Trempealeau Counties in Wisconsin — the Coulee Region, the coulees, ridge tops and river bluffs of south-west Wisconsin. Moving time is about 57 minutes; allow 85 with stops — a half morning. It is scored CS-2, Easy: 49 corners, 96° of turning per mile, 1,430 feet of climbing. The roads it uses, in the order you ride them, are in the app.

Curviness
CS-2Easy · 1.04/mi
Distance
47.3 mi57 min riding
Corners
4935% sharp · Sweeping
Climbing
1,430 ft30 ft/mi · Gentle
Shape
Point-to-pointHalf morning
Roads
Highway miles7% county & local
Traffic
4,800vehicles a day, median
Speed limit
55 mphtypically 55
Open this route in the app

About this road

The route links the Holmen–La Crosse area with Arcadia via ridges and the approach to the Trempealeau–Mississippi confluence. Perrot State Park, named for French explorer Nicolas Perrot, protects bluffs, prairies, and river views at that strategic meeting of waters. Inland ridge character gradually gives way to the growing influence of the big river. Geology and scenery remain classic Coulee Region, enriched by the drama of the Mississippi corridor. Perrot State Park itself joins history, ecology, and views in one of the region’s most satisfying stops. An excellent way to experience the transition from interior Coulee country to the big-river edge, with a major interpretive site as both destination and reward. The combination of elevation, scenery, and accessible history makes the day coherent and memorable. Start inland near Holmen or La Crosse, finish at the confluence. Perrot State Park is the payoff.

How it rides

49 corners over 47.3 miles — 1.04 a mile, and 96° of turning for every mile ridden. That scores CS-2, Easy on the five-point curviness scale. 35% of those corners are sharp ones, and the road reads as sweeping.

What it climbs

The road climbs 1,430 feet in total, 30 feet per mile, between 644 and 1,246 feet — 602 feet of relief. The longest single climb is 438 feet over 2.0 miles, and the steepest grade on it is 10.8%. By Driftless standards that is gentle.

Surface, speed and traffic

Paved end to end. 7% of it is back road rather than highway, the other 93% state or US route. Posted speeds run to 55 mph, typically 55, measured across 50% of the route. Where traffic counts exist — 30% of the miles — the median is 4,800 vehicles a day, busiest at mile 0.0 with 10,100.

Where to stop

4 of the towns on this road have somewhere to stop — 5 fuel, 4 food, 3 bars.

Longest stretch without fuel: 28.6 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