Grandad Bluff Park

A sign for Grandad Park, established in 1912, stands near a tree-lined entrance.

Home of a Flag Pole, Binoculars, Fireplace and New Years Eve Fireworks!

Grandad Bluff Park is the tip of a majestic outcropping of bluff land overlooking the City of La Crosse. The Park opened in 1912 and at 1,184 feet in height is well known for its scenic views. In addition to enjoying the breath- taking view, you can explore bluff side hiking trails. Grandad Bluff is the launching point of an annual New Year’s Eve fireworks celebration.

Grandad Bluff Park had a long list of previous owners, there were 83 property transfers between 1851 and 1912. Quarrying on the Bluff began in 1865. The last owner, Mrs. Ellis B. Usher, was the daughter of Henry Bliss, who built Bliss Road, the road to the top of Grandad. John Nolen, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, the landscape designer of the original City of La Crosse Park System, wrote in 1911, “The park which it is proposed to (be) created at this point will be the largest and most beautiful in La Crosse.”

In 1938, a 22’x29’ shelter house was built by the WPA using stone quarried from the south side of the bluff. The shelter was enclosed and wired for electricity in 1954. In 2011 the Grandad Bluff Park renovation was started; it was completed and celebrated in 2012, 100 years after the park was originally dedicated. The renovation included slope stabilization on the eroding cliff faces. There was an historic renovation of the shelter, which was tuck pointed and returned to its original 1938 condition. The scenic overlook was re-built, new fencing and new bathrooms were added, and the park was made ADA compliant. In 2013 the Grandad Bluff Park renovation was awarded the American Public Works Association Project of the Year. In 2015, local artist Mike Martino was commissioned to create a sculpture of Mrs. Ellen Pennel Hixon, who was instrumental in obtaining funding to save Grandad Bluff from quarrying and preserve it as a park.