Trout Falls: A century-old scenic destination at Fort McCoy
Long before Pine View Campground, before Fort McCoy became the home of a modern four-season outdoor recreation area, and before the surrounding land became part of an Army installation, people were making their way to a scenic place along the La Crosse River known as Trout Falls.
Today, Trout Falls remains one of the distinctive natural features of Fort McCoy’s Pine View Recreation Area. Surrounded by wooded hills and trails and fed by the La Crosse River, the falls offer visitors a place to experience the landscape in every season — from the colorful foliage of autumn to the snow and ice of winter.
And unlike many places on an active military installation, Trout Falls is part of a recreation area that is open to the public.
The history of the falls, however, reaches back more than a century before today's visitors arrive at Pine View.
Trout Falls before Fort McCoy
Historical photographs and newspaper accounts show that Trout Falls was already a recognized scenic attraction in the early 20th century.
The Wisconsin Historical Society preserves a postcard of the falls dated 1906. The image shows Trout Falls on the La Crosse River, with a group of women standing along the left bank. The postcard’s caption identifies the location as “Trout Falls, La Crosse River, La Crosse, Wis.” The hand-colored postcard provides an early photographic record of the falls and demonstrates that the site was being photographed and shared as a scenic destination more than 120 years ago. Another Wisconsin Historical Society postcard, produced in 1929 by the E.C. Kropp Co., provides an even more detailed look at the historic site.
The postcard is labeled “Trout Falls, Near Sparta, Wis.” It shows an elevated view of the river and falls surrounded by trees. At the base of the falls on the left bank is an open-sided structure elevated above the ground on supports. A partially obscured sign inside the structure appears to read “SHOE.” Two women can also be seen sitting on the riverbank and viewing the falls. The Historical Society identifies the location as approximately 7.7 miles northeast of Sparta on the La Crosse River in Monroe County.
The photograph is more than an attractive old image. It provides evidence that the area around Trout Falls was already being used and visited by people nearly a century ago.
The historic structure visible in the 1929 photograph also raises questions for future research. Its exact purpose has not been established from the available historical record, but its presence demonstrates that visitors were using and gathering at the falls during the period.
A place familiar to Sparta residents
A 2025 “Looking Back” feature published by the Monroe County Herald provides another important piece of Trout Falls history.
The newspaper looked back to 1910, when Sparta businessman Gustav Kollertz had his ice cream parlor decorated with painted scenes. One of those scenes was Trout Falls — a location the newspaper described as one that “every Spartan will immediately recognize.”
The reference is significant because it shows that Trout Falls was not merely an obscure geographic feature. By 1910, it was sufficiently familiar to the people of Sparta that an image of the falls could be used as recognizable local scenery in a downtown business.
The Monroe County Herald’s historical note also states that the area around Trout Falls was not part of Fort McCoy before the 1940s and was more readily accessible to the public at that time. Thus, long before the Army developed Pine View Recreation Area, Trout Falls was already part of the recreational and visual landscape of the Sparta area.
The river that gives Trout Falls its character
Trout Falls is located on the La Crosse River, a waterway that remains an important natural feature of Pine View Recreation Area.
The river also provides an explanation for the name Trout Falls.
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources records identify a 12.7-mile section of the La Crosse River upstream from Trout Falls as Class I trout water. The DNR describes that portion of the river as a high-quality trout stream with enough natural reproduction to sustain wild trout populations at or near carrying capacity. The classification identifies Trout Falls near the confluence with Suukjak Sep Creek as the downstream reference point for that high-quality trout-water section.
The trout-rich river and the falls have therefore been connected not only by geography but by the character of the landscape itself.
Visitors today can still see the La Crosse River flowing through Pine View Recreation Area and over Trout Falls.
From training land to recreation area
The next major chapter in Trout Falls history began after the land became part of the military reservation. Fort McCoy's modern Pine View Recreation Area was conceived during the mid-1960s as an effort to provide a community recreation area on post.
In 1969, approximately 200 acres of training land were rezoned for development of the Trout Falls-Squaw Lake area. Most construction took place during the summer of 1971, with the original project including a five-acre picnic area and a 50-unit camping area.
The transformation brought a new chapter to a landscape that had already been known to area residents for generations. On June 24, 1972, Pine View Campground officially opened as the Trout Falls-Squaw Lake Recreation Area. The original recreation development was much smaller than today's Pine View complex, but its name is historically important. The Army was not simply creating a campground near a scenic feature. Trout Falls was part of the name of the original recreation area itself.
Over the decades, the recreation area expanded and developed into today's Pine View Recreation Area. The area eventually became known as Pine View, but Trout Falls remained an important natural landmark within it.
From Trout Falls-Squaw Lake to Pine View
The recreation area that opened in 1972 continued to develop over the following decades.
The campground eventually grew far beyond its original 50-unit design. A 2014 Fort McCoy publication noted that the campground had expanded to 176 campsites, including 38 nonelectric tent sites, along with cabins, yurts, travel trailers and other amenities.
That same historical account emphasized something that remains true today: the campground and recreation area are available not only to military Families but also to the general public. At the time, approximately 65,000 people were using the area annually.
The transformation from the original Trout Falls-Squaw Lake Recreation Area to today's Pine View Recreation Area illustrates how a natural feature that had attracted visitors long before Fort McCoy became an installation was incorporated into a modern outdoor recreation destination.
Trout Falls today
Today, Trout Falls is part of a much larger recreation landscape.
Pine View Recreation Area encompasses hundreds of acres and includes the La Crosse River, Trout Falls, Suukjak Sep Lake and Suukjak Sep Creek, Pine View Campground, hiking trails, and Whitetail Ridge Ski Area. Fort McCoy describes the area as offering four-season, year-round recreation, including camping, hiking and fishing.
The current Fort McCoy camping information specifically states that members of the Fort McCoy community and the public may use Pine View Recreation Area and that Pine View is fully operational year-round.
Two miles of nature and hiking trails are maintained in the recreation area, and the trail to Trout Falls starts at the Pine View picnic area. That makes the falls particularly accessible for visitors who want to experience the area on foot.
The public should remember, however, that Fort McCoy is an active military installation and installation access is controlled. Visitors should check current access requirements, recreation-area rules, hours and seasonal conditions before traveling to the area. Fort McCoy’s current information identifies Pine View as one of the installation's recreational facilities available to the public.
Autumn brings a different Trout Falls For many visitors, autumn may be the most spectacular time to experience Trout Falls. As the leaves surrounding the La Crosse River change from green to the reds, oranges and yellows of Wisconsin autumn, the falls become part of a larger landscape of color.
Fort McCoy Public Affairs photographs from Sept. 25, 2023, document Trout Falls surrounded by fall foliage. Similar photographs taken Oct. 10, 2024, show the La Crosse River flowing over the falls while the surrounding woods display the colors of the season.
Fort McCoy recreation officials have specifically encouraged visitors to experience Trout Falls during autumn.
Alex Karis, supervisory recreation specialist and facility manager with Fort McCoy's Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation, has described Trout Falls as an especially scenic destination during the fall season.
The attraction is not limited to sightseeing. Visitors can hike the trails through the recreation area, view the river, enjoy the changing foliage and combine a visit to the falls with other Pine View activities.
The combination of water, rock, forest and changing leaves gives Trout Falls a different appearance from the one seen in the historic postcards of the early 1900s.
Yet the basic scene remains remarkably recognizable. The river still runs through the same landscape. The falls still draw visitors. And the surrounding woods remain an important part of the experience.
Winter transforms the falls again
When autumn ends and snow arrives, Trout Falls takes on another character. Fort McCoy has specifically promoted winter visits to the falls, noting that the river, trails and surrounding landscape can provide a scenic winter destination even after the main camping season has ended.
Karis has encouraged visitors to see Trout Falls after snowfall, saying the falls are particularly beautiful in winter. When snow conditions permit, visitors can use snowshoes or cross-country skis on the area's trails. The trails follow the La Crosse River both above and below the falls, and bridges provide crossings over the river.
A Nov. 28, 2023, Fort McCoy Public Affairs photograph provides a modern winter record of the falls, showing the river and falls in a snow-covered landscape.
Winter also provides something historical photographs cannot: an opportunity to see how dramatically the falls change when snow and ice become part of the scene.
The sound and movement of the river continue beneath the winter landscape, while snow and ice can build along the rocks and surrounding vegetation.
For visitors interested in photography, the seasonal contrast is particularly striking.
A natural landmark with a military history Trout Falls represents an unusual intersection of Wisconsin natural history, local community history and Fort McCoy history. The falls were known to area residents before the Army acquired the surrounding land.
They appeared in early 20th-century postcards. They were familiar enough to Sparta residents in 1910 to be used as a recognizable scene in a local ice cream parlor. A 1929 postcard documented visitors at the falls and a structure beside the river. Then, decades later, the Army incorporated the falls into a recreation project that became the Trout Falls-Squaw Lake Recreation Area in 1972.
That recreation area eventually evolved into today’s Pine View Recreation Area. The name changed, the campground grew, facilities were added and the surrounding military installation continued to evolve. But Trout Falls remained.
A place to experience Fort McCoy beyond the training mission Fort McCoy is best known for its role as a military training installation, but places such as Trout Falls offer visitors a different perspective on the installation.
The Pine View Recreation Area provides an opportunity to experience the natural landscape of western Wisconsin while remaining within the boundaries of an active Army installation.
The area includes hiking, camping, fishing and other outdoor recreation opportunities. Fort McCoy's current information lists Pine View as a public recreation destination, while installation regulations continue to govern access and activities.
For someone visiting Fort McCoy for the first time, Trout Falls can therefore serve as a reminder that the installation is more than its training areas and military facilities.
It is also a place where a river flows through wooded hills, where trout inhabit the La Crosse River, where hikers can follow trails through the landscape, and where a natural feature photographed more than a century ago can still be visited today.
A century of visitors — and counting
The historical record of Trout Falls provides a remarkable continuity. In 1906, a group of women stood beside the falls for a photograph that became a postcard. In 1910, residents of Sparta recognized Trout Falls as a familiar local scene.
In 1929, visitors were photographed sitting beside the river while the falls flowed nearby. In 1969, the Army designated approximately 200 acres for development of the Trout Falls-Squaw Lake recreation area.
In 1972, the recreation area officially opened. In 2022, Pine View marked 50 years of recreation use. In 2023 and 2024, Fort McCoy photographers documented the falls in autumn and winter.
And today, the public can still follow the trail to Trout Falls and stand beside the same river that attracted visitors generations ago.
The scenery changes with the seasons, but the attraction remains. For those looking for a place to experience Wisconsin's autumn colors, take a winter hike, photograph a historic natural landmark or simply spend time outdoors, Trout Falls offers something that is increasingly rare: a living landscape with a documented history stretching back more than a century.
The falls are not simply a feature of Pine View Recreation Area. They are part of the history of the land itself. And after more than 100 years of being photographed, visited and remembered, Trout Falls remains one of Fort McCoy's most distinctive places to experience the outdoors.
People can learn more about the recreation area and all it has to offer the public by visiting https://mccoy.armymwr.com.
(Article prepared by the Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office.)
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