Antebellum Amble on the Galena River Trail

Celebrating U.S. Independence with U.S. Grant

Each year tends to carry its own theme. 2015 was for grueling mountain rides, 2018 was fit for group mountain biking, and 2020 was the year of the fat bike. 2021 turned out to be the year of the bike path. First there was the Clear Creek Trail and Cushman Trail of the West Sound region, leading up to the beautiful Olympic Discovery Trail, https://jollyroutes.com/olympic-discovery-trail/. Then we followed it up by biking on two trails, the Galena River Trail and Great River Trail, upon returning to La Crosse, WI for our wedding reception.

The Galena River Trail took place on the Fourth of July in Illinois. It is a beautiful town full of old, Antebellum architecture. Ulysses S. Grant is adorned there. He has a park, a statue, and a home which was gifted to him after the Civil War. He briefly lived there in 1860, working at his father’s leather store before leaving when war broke out.

My parents, Rita, and I drove down that morning from La Crosse. The bikes were rustled from my parents garage, as well as one from a neighbor. When we arrived people were gearing up for the Fourth of July fireworks show by claiming spots along the riverbank. Blankets and lawn chairs were scattered everywhere. As we struggle to find the trail a friendly biker sporting a Grinnell College jersey welcomed us to Galena and pointed us in the right direction: we were on the wrong side of the river.

Ambling down the Galena River Trail

We eventually found the trailhead at Depot Park and went north on the crushed gravel trail. Across the river we had a view of the downtown and its distinct architecture. I imagined horses and buggies, blacksmithing shops, and soldiers walking around in blue uniforms. After a short cruise of only half a mile we reached the northern terminus of the trail, Buehler Preserve. There are additional trails there, most suitable for walking. We turned around and headed South, enjoying the view of the town from the other direction.

After crossing the parking lot at Depot Park we followed the trail into the woods. The summer forests of the Driftless Area have a distinct smell that I know well, considering I grew up around it. I don’t know what causes it and I’d rather not. For me it’s a beautiful smell, evoking memories of being home during the summer time as a child, no school and no worries. The forests around Galena are full of that smell.

We had near continuous views of the river through the trees. It used to be navigable by steamboats and was a shipping route for lead mining. Today it is small and muddy. A fishing boat would have a hard time traveling through the swampy sections. It was an easygoing, front porch river. The bike ride, mostly flat and on crushed rock, shared the same character.

A sight to see

There are a couple interesting waypoints on the trail. One is a natural spring. The mouth bubbles from the ground and is the size of a wishing well, but produces enough water to create a fast creek. The next is a spur trail that leads to Casper Bluff Reserve, which contains Native American burial mounds and a Thunderbird effigy. It seemed too distant to walk, so we missed out. We did run into a group of Chicago men who walked from the mounds and were looking to hang out by the river. We directed them east on the trail to Galena, much to the chagrin of one guy who lambasted at walking into the sun while the other direction was shaded.

The trail ended in the blink town (don’t blink or you’ll miss it) of Aiken. My mother wanted to stop and explore the downtown, but after explaining to her that the empty shed across the street was the highlight, we moved on. Instead of turning around we turned right and biked on the quiet river road. Our goal was to see the main channel of the Mississippi River, the basin for the Galena River. I have said it before but I’ll say it again. Someday I’ll bike the length of the Muddy Mrs. Sip.

We crossed a railroad, biked by a marsh, and passed a gang of ATVers heading the opposite direction. Just as we were starting to think the road wouldn’t pass close to the Mississippi we rounded a bend and saw the Big Muddy in all her glory. There were homes with backyards that went right up to the bank. Great for launching a boat, not so great for avoiding mosquitoes. People were outside celebrating the Fourth in the typical American fashion of throwing bags.

Chestnut Mountain

After passing the bag throwers we stopped on a stretch of road with good views. A pelican milled around the backwaters and turkey vultures circled above. We debated turning back or continuing to Chestnut Mountain Resort, a downhill ski area, https://www.chestnutmtn.com/. The debate hinged on whether the extra miles were worth delaying lunch.  Considering this was a “jolly bike ride”, we continued on. To our surprise Chestnut Mountain was around the corner, hardly a minute away.

Even in the summertime the ski hill was busy. Customers gleefully rode carts down an alpine slide, hung for dear life onto an eagle zipline carriage, and took peaceful river cruises on a paddlewheeler. The bike trail arrival allowed us to “slip through the backdoor”, and we took a ride up the chairlift free of charge. Rita and I were almost charged for the ride back down, but the young lift attendant didn’t much care about our little joy ride.

The lift back down the hill treated us with beautiful views of the Mississippi River Valley. Birds flew around the backwaters and a barge moved slowly down the main channel. The bluffs of Iowa filled the background. We passed overhead a frustrated boy who was tailgating his slow mother down the Alpine Slide.

On the bike ride back we found a side trail near Galena that led to a sunken bench with a river view. It would be a great place to taunt passing kayakers (we didn’t). The ride ended at Galena Recreation Park. Afterwards we walked through the Antebellum style downtown. I regret I didn’t wear a blue Union uniform with rifle slung around my back and hardtack stowed in a tin.

The main street of Galena was blocked to cars and filled with pedestrians. Restaurants and bars were open with sidewalk seating. While exploring, Rita got a Galena magnet, I bought a flavored root beer, and we all shared ice cream from a parlor straight out of the 1920s. An old style bike ride finished off with old style leisure.