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Sparta to Trempealeau via Mindoro

Sparta to Trempealeau via Mindoro is 46.6 miles of point-to-point riding through Monroe, La Crosse and Trempealeau Counties in Wisconsin — the Coulee Region, the coulees, ridge tops and river bluffs of south-west Wisconsin. Moving time is about 57 minutes; allow 85 with stops — a half morning. It is scored CS-1, Cruiser: 41 corners, 81° of turning per mile, 1,514 feet of climbing. The roads it uses, in the order you ride them, are in the app.

Curviness
CS-1Cruiser · 0.88/mi
Distance
46.6 mi57 min riding
Corners
4149% sharp · Tight
Climbing
1,514 ft33 ft/mi · Rolling
Shape
Point-to-pointHalf morning
Roads
Mixed roads36% county & local
Traffic
2,100vehicles a day, median
Speed limit
55 mphtypically 55
Open this route in the app

About this road

This long point-to-point links Sparta, the self-proclaimed Bicycling Capital of America, with the Mississippi corridor via Mindoro and the interior ridges. The approach to the historic Mindoro Cut and a broad sample of Coulee Region terrain fill the middle miles. Easy logistics at both ends frame pure rural Wisconsin in between. Connecting trail-town and river-town identities gives the route a coherent regional story; time at the Mindoro Cut, when the schedule allows, adds the engineering landmark. An excellent way to experience the span from inland trail culture at Sparta to big-river edge, with continuous Coulee topography and a National Register feature as optional highlights. The length and variety make it a satisfying full-day effort. Start in Sparta, finish by the river. The Mindoro Cut is the story in the middle.

How it rides

41 corners over 46.6 miles — 0.88 a mile, and 81° of turning for every mile ridden. That scores CS-1, Cruiser on the five-point curviness scale. 49% of those corners are sharp ones, and the road reads as tight.

What it climbs

The road climbs 1,514 feet in total, 33 feet per mile, between 645 and 1,115 feet — 470 feet of relief. The longest single climb is 343 feet over 1.7 miles, and the steepest grade on it is 9.8%. By Driftless standards that is rolling.

Surface, speed and traffic

Paved end to end. 36% of it is back road rather than highway, the other 64% state or US route. Posted speeds run to 55 mph, typically 55, measured across 52% of the route. Where traffic counts exist — 28% of the miles — the median is 2,100 vehicles a day, busiest at mile 35.8 with 8,200.

Where to stop

5 of the towns on this road have somewhere to stop — 5 fuel, 5 food, 6 bars.

Longest stretch without fuel: 35.9 miles. Worth knowing before you set off if your tank is small.

Listed alphabetically, and chosen by us rather than rated by anybody. The order you reach them, and the mile each one sits at, are in the app.

Turn-by-turn directions and the spoken guidance are in the app. Every figure on this page is measured from the route itself — corner counts and gradients from the road geometry, elevation from the national elevation dataset, traffic from the state transport departments where counts exist.

Nearby roads