Riding Wisconsin - Pier Park, Rockbridge

Long ago, within a few years of moving to Wisconsin, I literally stumbled upon this small 10 acre park in Richland county. To this day I'm not sure what led me up Highway 80 out of Richland Center, but there it was, just past the little country store. Over the decades it's been a favorite coffee/lunch stop with just about everyone I've ever ridden with - including out of state friends. 

It's a standard county park with stinky toilets, picnic pavilions, and a swing set, but this one has an escarpment that the Pine River flows through as well as a tunnel that you can walk through to get to the other side. The kind park folks have installed stairs at each end so you can get to the top and walk across. I found my first ever geocache here while poking around with Curt G. There are now two listed geocaches. I looked for one today but the mosquitoes found me before I found the cache. I was probably standing on it. 

Gene & I used to stop here after starting real early to ride to the Mississippi River but we'd get to BS-ing for so long over coffee that we would use up the day and have to go home. The scenic route from Eagle can be made into a 300 mile round trip.

I always wondered, "Where's the pier?", however the InterWeb informs me the land was donated by the Pier family. Mystery solved.

Entering the park

The tunnel through the escarpment

The other side with the Pine River flowing along the base

Starting through the tunnel

Half way through

Just about to cross the bridge over the Pine River

Stairs at the north end

Trail across the top

Stairs at the south end

Looking west from atop the escarpment