Minnesota and Wisconsin are rivals, but they share a lot, too. The Mississippi and St. Croix rivers are one example. And each state has a Great River Road National Scenic Byway. In Minnesota, U.S. 61 shadows the "Father of Waters." On the Badger side of the "Big Muddy," Wisconsin's Highway 35 winds south over hill and dale as it hugs the river almost all the way to the Illinois border.
These two big rivers come together in Prescott, Wis., which is the northern gateway to Wisconsin's Great River Road. Population 4,000, the city became a booming river town after trader and Native American interpreter Philander Prescott first went there in 1839 from Ft. Snelling. He held a claim on land for soldiers hoping to establish the area's first major settlement where the St. Croix and Mississippi meet. When speculators drove up land prices, however, people opted for less expensive land near Pig's Eye Landing, later known as St. Paul.
Because Philander Prescott's land was on two rivers in a heavily forested area, however, the site still became a lumber center. And Prescott, Wisconsin's westernmost town and its oldest community, was busy when loggers rafted 4.3 billion board feet of logs from Minnesota and Wisconsin forests downstream in the 19th century.
Steamboats were king then and as many as five or six could dock daily at Prescott, some carrying hundreds of passengers. Gen. U.S. Grant, the Union's Civil War hero (and later U.S. president), stepped off one such steamboat in 1865 at what is now Mercord Mill Park. Boats of all kinds are still common on both rivers - the area is dotted with marinas - but smaller craft now dominate one of the nation's busiest recreational boating areas.
What's in Prescott? The Welcome and Heritage Center, on the National Register of Historic Places, is next to a clock tower containing one of the last large mechanical clocks made by Seth Thomas. The center is also the beginning of a bike trail and a short river walk. You can eat overlooking the river in a restored 1880s building and stroll downtown, where some buildings still reveal their 19th century origins.
Just south of town is Freedom Park and its Great River Road Visitor Center. The park, which offers stunning views of and information about the river and the area, is on the National Audubon Society's list of renowned places for bird watching.
Whether you drive through Hastings or on the east side of the Mississippi to reach Prescott, you enter it over a short lift bridge. When down, its sidewalk offers a perch to watch activities on Lake St. Croix. If you have time (and the gas money), Prescott is a takeoff point for roads and river towns on either side of the border. Go north and the scenic St. Croix Valley reveals its charm. South on Wisconsin 35, possible stops include Hager City (is the ancient 200-foot boulder a bow and arrow or a bird?), the arts and crafts community of Stockholm, Laura Ingalls Wilder's birthplace, the town wedged between river and bluff (Alma), and Fountain City, home of the Mississippi's highest point.
The twisting and winding roads in this region are also especially appealing for motorcyclists.