Positioned alongside the Mississippi River, La Crosse is the largest city on Wisconsin's western border. Population as of the 2020 census was 52,680. The city forms the core of and is the principal city in the La Crosse–Onalaska Metropolitan Area, which includes all of La Crosse County and Houston County, Minnesota, with a population of 139,627

Grandad Bluff

Popular place in the summer to escape the heat.

Grandad Bluff is on the east side of La Crosse, Wisconsin. It is approximately 590 feet above the surrounding land and 1,183 feet above sea level.

The land comprising much of Grandad Bluff was first purchased from the state by Judge George Gale in July 1851. Between 1851 and 1912, there were 83 transfers of the property. The bluff was used as a source of construction materials, and its limestone was quarried for many years. The bluff was to be sold for large-scale quarrying, however the La Crosse residents were outraged by the plans. To save the bluff from ruin, Ellen Hixon and her son Joseph, a prominent La Crosse family, purchased the land in 1909. The family held the property in trust until 1912 when the land was donated as a park to the city of La Crosse. A group of residents, led by Ellen Hixon, raised $15,000 to construct roads and purchase more land around the bluff. The area below Grandad Bluff became the center of Hixon Forest, which continues to serve as a popular hiking area.

A shelter was constructed in Grandad Bluff Park in 1938 by the Works Progress Administration using stone quarried from the south side of the bluff. In 1941, a 65 ft (20 m) flagpole was erected by the La Crosse chapter of Reserve Officers Association using money raised by schoolchildren.

Since 1929, the La Crosse Skyrockers organization has conducted a fireworks show from atop Grandad Bluff at midnight on New Year's Eve.