Outdoor Recreation Alliance

A group against the Grandad Bluff Trail Project is pursuing a "last-ditch effort" to ban community recreation on Grandad Bluff—but ORA Trails is not giving up!

Have you read the article in the La Crosse Tribune on  Saturday, May 24, 2020? Judge Todd Ziegler ordered the City of La Crosse to stop construction on “The Gateway” or "Grandad Bluff Project" until the next court hearing scheduled for June 5.  The judge was responding to a civil suit and “last-ditch effort” by homeowners adjacent to 160 acres of unused city park at the base of Grandad Bluff.

We are working with our trail building partners to comply with the request at this time. We want to make you aware of what is happening and how you can save the project to improve community recreation on the public land of Grandad Bluff. 


ORA Trails did not budget for legal expenses this late in the process, but rest assured, with your help we will enthusiastically support The Gateway to its successful completion.  We have come too far—too many good people—including over 3,000 hikers and bikers that signed our supporting petition, have worked too hard to stop short of realizing the benefits our community will enjoy because of The Grandad Bluff Trail Project.

Construction of the trail will eliminate existing rogue trails that are causing more damage to the bluff, and make the area more accessible to manage litter and graffiti on the land. 


Pictured above: left = rogue trail photographed February 2020; right = ORA Trails volunteers removed 6000lbs of trash and 800 square feet of graffiti on Grandad Bluff area last spring.

So what are we going to do about it?
ORA Trails will retain appropriate legal counsel and expertise to fight this injunction and proceed as planned with the commitments we have made to our community to continue to Grandad Bluff Trail Project. We are asking for your donor support to help fund this effort.

Our community efforts to build and maintain trails have been made more challenging by the COVID-19 pandemic and its devastating impact on municipal budgets.  Municipalities like La Crosse are being forced to make tough financial decisions and try their best to maintain basic services with less available dollars from reduced fees and taxes. It is clear to all of us at ORA Trails that we must instead reach out to donors like you to support our efforts in creating and maintaining trails for all to enjoy. 

Please join us in giving whatever you can afford to give. We are grateful for your support.
Contributions received over our legal expenses will be applied to The Grandad Bluff Trail Project and other future shared-use trail building projects in our community. Contributions to ORA Trails, a 501C3, are 100% tax-deductible. 

ORA Trails will continue to bring new shared-use trail ideas to the community.  Helping La Crosse area families remain active and healthy is even more important now.

Thank you. 

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Additional information about The Grandad Bluff Trail Project

The Grandad Bluff Trail Project area is currently laden with invasive species and rogue trails that routinely wash out when it rains. The Grandad Bluff Trail Project has been professionally designed with sustainable trails that will protect the area from washouts and ensuing environmental damage. The new shared-use trails will lead well-intentioned explorers away from sensitive areas that are home to rare species that need our protection.

ORA Trails has been successful in serving as a catalyst within the community to build miles of quality trails that bring families together in the woods in a healthy and active lifestyle.  The Grandad Bluff Trail Project in particular will be a quiet place for solitude and reflection and it will safely help keep families off of Bliss road, separated from cars and trucks. 

The Grandad Bluff Trail Project will provide our first responders with safe and quick access to bluff rescues and help neighbors who temporarily lost their valiant attempt to conquer Mother Nature and need rescuing from the bluff.  First responders and so many others in our community were at the planning table with us as far back as 2018.

The Grandad Bluff Trail Project provides safe access to rock climbers that have struggled for years to bring their love of sport out of the darkness and into the light as communities like Wisconsin Dells have done so well.

The Grandad Bluff Trail Project is the result of thoughtful listening by Mayor Tim Kabat, Park Director Jay Odegaard, and the many people that work for the City of La Crosse.  They have heard our community's desire for access to shared-use trails close to where we live and the community's desire to utilize 160 acres of park land within the heart of the city that currently sits idle and unused, while hikers, runners, and bikers compete with cars and trucks on Bliss Road.

Remember that feeling of flying... when your parent first let go of your bike seat and sent you on your way to freedom.  Bikes bring expanded opportunities and a sense of escape to lots of folks around the world, and there is no better tool to lose yourself in pure joy.  The Outdoor Recreation Alliance (ORA) hopes to bring the joy to even more people by working with the city of La Crosse to install a complete bicycle playground (it is exactly what it sounds like... a playground for bikes and other fun stuff with wheels) in Lueth Park.  Lueth park has been the home to an iconic concrete skatepark since 1999 and nearly 20 years later the park will get a facelift with expanded access to more cool stuff... LIKE AN ASPHALT PUMP TRACK!  
ORA was responsible for giving La Crosse the first free pump track and bike park in the Upper Midwest, and now we want to bring the fun into the heart of the city.  Here's where you come in.  Some amazing community members have stepped up to match your donations, dollar for dollar up to $8000... that's right, every dollar you spend turns into $2 for the project... BUT IT GETS BETTER!  If we reach our goal of $8000, another donor has pledged an additional $10,000!  That means when we reach the goal, your original dollar just turned into $3.25!  It's like you are spending someone else's money.... so aim for the fences and go for broke!  If we surpass the goal, the additional money will just flow right into more cool stuff at the site.

If you don't know how cool an asphalt pump track is, check this out:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPhxQRUoL-o


If you or your business is interested in getting in the mix with a larger donation or corporate sponsorship, please reach out and we'll make great things happen together.  Send us an email at [email redacted]