Fact Sheet 33: Mississippi River Recreation and Eau Galle Lake Section

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District
Published March 24, 2025
Updated: March 24, 2025
St. Paul District's Brad Labadie, Park Ranger at Eau Galle Recreation Area in Spring Valley, Wisconsin, was out at Lake Minnetonka on April 25, 2015, to teach a little about water safety during the Minnetonka and Victoria Lions clubs’ crappie fishing contest. The event was a fundraiser with all proceeds helping send 15 children to the American Diabetes Association's Camp Needlepoint in Hudson, Wisconsin, for a week this summer.

St. Paul District's Brad Labadie, Park Ranger at Eau Galle Recreation Area in Spring Valley, Wisconsin, was out at Lake Minnetonka on April 25, 2015, to teach a little about water safety during the Minnetonka and Victoria Lions clubs’ crappie fishing contest. The event was a fundraiser with all proceeds helping send 15 children to the American Diabetes Association's Camp Needlepoint in Hudson, Wisconsin, for a week this summer.

Blackhawk Park on the Mississippi River. The St. Paul District operates 49 recreation areas, ranging from public landings along the Mississippi River to lock and dam visitor centers to full-service campgrounds. These recreation areas are an important component of the region’s tourism industry, and the impact on the local and regional economies is significant.

Blackhawk Park on the Mississippi River. The St. Paul District operates 49 recreation areas, ranging from public landings along the Mississippi River to lock and dam visitor centers to full-service campgrounds. These recreation areas are an important component of the region’s tourism industry, and the impact on the local and regional economies is significant.

Volunteers representing, the Student Conservation Association, School on the Prairie from Holmen, Wis., as well as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Corps employees, converged on Little Hoot Island on the Mississippi River in Pool 8 near Brownsville, Minn., to plant 750 tree and shrub seedlings, on May 23, 2013. Here, Corps of Engineers Pathways Intern Jason Johnson plants a seedling

Volunteers representing, the Student Conservation Association, School on the Prairie from Holmen, Wis., as well as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Corps employees, converged on Little Hoot Island on the Mississippi River in Pool 8 near Brownsville, Minn., to plant 750 tree and shrub seedlings, on May 23, 2013. Here, Corps of Engineers Pathways Intern Jason Johnson plants a seedling

Volunteers representing, the Student Conservation Association, School on the Prairie from Holmen, Wis., as well as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Corps employees, converged on Little Hoot Island on the Mississippi River in Pool 8 near Brownsville, Minn., to plant 750 tree and shrub seedlings, on May 23, 2013. Here, Corps of Engineers Pathways Intern Kaecey Jertson plants a seedling

Volunteers representing, the Student Conservation Association, School on the Prairie from Holmen, Wis., as well as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Corps employees, converged on Little Hoot Island on the Mississippi River in Pool 8 near Brownsville, Minn., to plant 750 tree and shrub seedlings, on May 23, 2013. Here, Corps of Engineers Pathways Intern Kaecey Jertson plants a seedling

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers provides quality, public outdoor recreation experiences to serve the needs of present and future generations while being consistent with ecosystem management principles. In the St. Paul District, the Mississippi River Recreation Office has offices in La Crosse, Wisconsin; De Soto, Wisconsin; and Spring Valley, Wisconsin. Responsibilities include the management of public resources located on Corps-fee lands along approximately 243 river miles within the Upper Mississippi River 9-Foot Navigation Channel Project from Minneapolis to Guttenberg, Iowa. The Eau Galle Dam and Recreation Area is also part of the Mississippi River Recreation Section and serves as a flood risk management project with recreational opportunities and environmental stewardship in Spring Valley. Key areas and services include: 

Operation and Maintenance of Corps Recreation Areas

The section operates and maintains four recreation areas.

Blackhawk Park, approximately three miles north of De Soto, Wisconsin, is the largest recreation area in Pool 9 and the only Corps-staffed campground on the Upper Mississippi River in the St. Paul District. Approximately 150,000 people visit this site annually. It provides around 150 campsites, 73 of which have electrical hook-ups; two picnic shelters; two boat ramps; swimming beach; accessible fishing dock; sanitary dump station; playgrounds; showers; and other recreation facilities and interpretive programming. Blackhawk Park is also designated as a placement site for material dredged out of the Mississippi River. The material is used to rehabilitate the park.

Millstone Landing, approximately three miles north of New Albin, Iowa, and Bad-Axe Landing, approximately five miles south of Genoa, Wisconsin, both in Pool 9, and Jay’s Lake Landing, near Bagley, Wisconsin, in Pool 10, provide boat ramps, vault toilets, picnic facilities and shoreline fishing opportunities.

Eau Galle Dam and Recreation Area, located in Spring Valley, Wisconsin, is a 650-acre site that provides flood risk management for the area, numerous recreational opportunities and valuable habitat for native plants and animals. The site has camping, picnic facilities, playgrounds, beach, boat ramps, fishing docs, sand volleyball courts and trails for hiking and horse-back riding. It’s also a popular lake for fishing all year round. Approximately 70,000 people visit the site annually.

Corps Land Managed by Others

Many Corps of Engineers’ owned lands on the Mississippi River are licensed or leased to other federal, state and local governments for management. Section staff provides assistance to these agencies during planning activities impacting the sites and related management oversight, as well as serve as liaisons between the agencies and district real estate elements as necessary.

Recreation at Locks and Dams

The section is responsible for planning, developing and implementing the public-use facility plans for all 13 locks and dams in the St. Paul District. Facilities vary by lock but generally include public restrooms, interpretive displays, observation areas and information kiosks. 

Boundaries

Section staff determines where new property boundary surveys and/or maps are needed and administers survey contracts when necessary. They also assure project boundaries are adequately marked and signed and respond to frequent requests by individual property owners neighboring a project, for boundary identification.

Interagency Cooperation

Corps employees involved in the recreation business function coordinate with various federal, state and local government agencies that have management interests on the project. Major interagency cooperative efforts include: serving as chair of the River Resources Forum’s Recreation Work Group, overseeing a study of recreational users and their perceptions, supporting recreational boating studies, developing beach management plans and conducting regular-user surveys.

Interpretation

Section staff is responsible for developing and conducting interpretive programs at its facilities and providing community outreach to various groups and audiences. 

For more information, please contact:

Mississippi River Recreation 
332 Front Street South, 4th floor
La Crosse, WI 54601
(507) 895-6341