Great River Road, Prescott to Fountain City

WI 35 follows the Mississippi from Prescott past Lake Pepin, Maiden Rock, Stockholm, Pepin and Alma to Fountain City, with tall bluffs on one side and the river on the other.

From Jefferson Street in Prescott, at the confluence of the St. Croix and Mississippi rivers, WI 35 heads south-east through Diamond Bluff and past Hager City to Bay City, where Lake Pepin begins. It then runs along the Wisconsin shore of the lake, which is 22 miles long and up to 2 miles wide, through Maiden Rock, named for the cliff just south of the village, and Stockholm, founded in 1854 by Swedish immigrants. Pepin follows, home to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum, and after the Chippewa River crossing the road reaches Nelson, where WI 25 crosses the Mississippi to Wabasha, Minnesota. At Alma, Lock and Dam No. 4 is a major nesting ground for bald eagles that can be watched from the riverbank, and the road continues through Cochrane and past the entrance to Merrick State Park into Fountain City. It ends at the junction with WI 95 on the north side of Fountain City, where the river runs right at the base of the bluffs and the town is in places only two houses wide. Riders describe long sweepers rather than a technical road, and the 25 mph zones in Stockholm and Pepin are strictly enforced.