John A. Latsch State Park

About this park

John A. Latsch State Park, established in 1925 when local businessman John A. Latsch purchased blufflands along the Mississippi River and persuaded a neighboring landowner to join him in donating roughly 350 acres to the state, protects a dramatic, compact stretch of river bluff just northwest of Winona. Latsch, who loved fishing the waters below the park's namesake bluffs, named them Faith, Hope, and Charity, and a steep half-mile trail of 592 steps now climbs to the summit of Mt. Charity for a 500-foot overlook above the Mississippi River valley. For years before the park's formal establishment, only the most ambitious hikers made the steep climb up these bluffs for the view; today the same trail rewards day visitors with one of the more striking vantage points along this stretch of the river, looking out over the braided channels and floodplain forest far below. The park's compact acreage supports a genuinely diverse mix of natural communities packed into a small footprint, including remnant prairie, floodplain forest, and oak forest clinging to the bluff slopes. Latsch's conservation instincts extended beyond Minnesota: he later donated land across the river in Wisconsin that became Perrot State Park, giving this stretch of the Mississippi a matched pair of bluff-top parks facing each other from opposite banks. As a day-use-only park with minimal facilities, just a picnic area, vault toilet, and hand pump water, Latsch remains a quiet, lightly developed stop for hikers specifically seeking the payoff of its summit view rather than a full-service camping destination.