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Joe Steinbring

Nelson Dewey State Park

A wide view from a bluff over prairie and woods to the Mississippi River and distant hills.
The Mississippi River valley from the bluff, in November 2021.2021 · Photograph by Joe Steinbring
Static offline map showing Nelson Dewey State Park in Wisconsin with a location pin.

Nelson Dewey State Park sits on a bluff about 500 feet above the Mississippi River, just outside Cassville. It is named for Nelson Dewey, Wisconsin’s first governor, whose estate is now the Stonefield historic site beside it. I spent the late morning of November 4, 2021, there, one of the state parks I hiked that fall while international travel was still on hold. Most of the leaves were down, which opened up the views: from the stone walls along the edge of the bluff, the river and its backwaters spread across the valley toward the hills of Iowa. I walked the Mound Point Trail along the top of the bluff and the Dewey Heights Prairie State Natural Area, a small dry prairie on the limestone.

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  • A brown Mound Point Trail sign among bare trees on a bluff, the river valley beyond.

    The Mound Point Trail.

    2021 · Photograph by Joe Steinbring

  • A sign about the Upper Mississippi River refuge, in front of the river’s backwaters.

    The view, and a sign about the refuge below it.

    2021 · Photograph by Joe Steinbring

  • A weathered sign for the Dewey Heights Prairie State Natural Area, with a map.

    The Dewey Heights Prairie State Natural Area.

    2021 · Photograph by Joe Steinbring

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