Centuries before it served as a natural landmark along French fur-trading routes, Roche-A-Cri Mound held significance for the area’s earliest inhabitants. The mysterious carvings in the bare rock of the south face bear witness to their passing. Layers of graffiti, the first added by settlers of European descent over 170 years ago, have not erased them. The archaeological importance of these prehistoric art forms has earned Roche-A-Cri Mound its listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
The 300-foot castellated sandstone mesa, from which the park derives its name, was once an island in glacial lake Wisconsin. The summit, now accessible by a stairway, offers a breathtaking l20-mile panorama.
The stairway to the top of the mound was funded by the Stewardship Program and built through the cooperative efforts of the Department of Natural Resources and the Wisconsin Conservation Corps. It is but one of the ambitious improvement projects supported by the Friends of Roche-A-Cri State Park (FRAC).
As intended, the stairway has served to simultaneously improve public access to this natural monument while helping to protect the park’s environmentally sensitive areas.
The varied terrains of the 425-acre park designated a State Natural Area, including grasslands, open cliffs, pine barrens, oak forest, prairie, and the trout-rippled meanders of Carter Creek.
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