Located just above the confluence of the Mississippi and Wisconsin Rivers, Prairie du Chien is the oldest European settlement on the Upper Mississippi River. Many epic frontier stories were played out here. Learn more at the city’s Fort Crawford Museum and at Villa Louis, one of ten properties operated by the Wisconsin Historical Society. Just south of the city, magnificent views of the Mississippi and Wisconsin Rivers can be enjoyed from the 500-foot bluffs of Wyalusing State Park. Bordered on the south and west by refuges of the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers, Crawford County is a bonanza for birders and anglers. The Kickapoo River snakes through the county like a drunken sailor, following the ridges, valleys and hollows of this topographical crazy quilt. In the center of the county, Gays Mills is renowned for its apple orchards which flourish in the temperate valley of the Kickapoo. For more information about the Prairie du Chien area, call 800/732-1673 or visit prairieduchien.org.