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2026 Summer Soils & Landscapes Tour - Driftless vs True Driftless
2-day bus tour highlighting the landforms and associated soils of the erosional landscapes in SE Minnesota and SW Wisconsin. The tour will be lead by retired NRCS Soil Scientists Peter Hartman (MN) and Donna Ferren Guy (WI), and will feature renown soil-geomorphologists Howard Hobbs (retired Quaternary Geologist MN Geological Survey), Joe Mason (Professor University of Wisconsin) and other local experts from MAPSS and WSPSS memberships.
Day 1 - Thursday, August 6 – The Minnesota Loop – Rushford Area
Bus Departs 10AM sharp @ 434 3rd St S, La Crosse/Returns 5:30PM
Business Meetings/Happy Hour – Downtown La Crosse
Convenes 5:30PM @ Earl's Grocery & Saloon 401 3rd St S, La Crosse
Day 2 - Friday, August 7 – The Wisconsin Loop – La Crosse/Coon Valley Area
Departs 8AM sharp @ 434 3rd St S, La Crosse/Returns 3:00PM
Lodging can be reserved online (until July 7) with the Fairfield Inn & Suites La Crosse Downtown under the MN Assoc. of Professional Soil Scientists MAPSS/WSPSS link: HERE
Camping can be reserved at nearby Goose Island Park by calling 608-788-7018.
Box lunches will be provided each day. Registrants can contact MAPSS mapss@mnsoilscientist.org with any dietary restrictions. When you register for the event you can enter information into the form, too.
The Minnesota Loop on Thursday
The Driftless Tour on the Minnesota side will examine a cross section of the Root River Valley between Rushford and Peterson. Soils from the major landform positions will be shown either in soil pits or as soil cores in trays. There will be an emphasis on how the Minnesota Driftless topography (glaciated more than half a million years ago) and the Wisconsin Driftless Area (never glaciated) are similar and different.
There will be a brief introduction to the geologic history of the Driftless Area starting from the Paleozoic Era, through the Pleistocene, Holocene and into the Anthropocene. Pre-settlement vegetation that the soils formed under will be briefly discussed.
Howard Hobbs will present a hypothesis for why the Driftless Area was missed by glaciation.
Stops include:
Featherstone Farm Valley - floodplain and lower terrace loamy outwash
Magelssen Bluff - lunch stop
Featherstone Farm Ridge - loess on summit, aspects differences on shoulder, colluvium on valley side Arendahl Summit - 14.5 feet of loess over about 2 feet of pre-Illinois till, over sandstone residuum
Peterson Sand Pit – high terrace, sandy outwash
The Wisconsin Loop on Friday
Joe Mason will present ideas for the origin of the red clay Rountree Formation.
The stops in The Wisconsin Loop on Friday - coming soon!
2026 Summer Soils & Landscapes Tour - Driftless vs True Driftless
2-day bus tour highlighting the landforms and associated soils of the erosional landscapes in SE Minnesota and SW Wisconsin. The tour will be lead by retired NRCS Soil Scientists Peter Hartman (MN) and Donna Ferren Guy (WI), and will feature renown soil-geomorphologists Howard Hobbs (retired Quaternary Geologist MN Geological Survey), Joe Mason (Professor University of Wisconsin) and other local experts from MAPSS and WSPSS memberships.
Day 1 - Thursday, August 6 – The Minnesota Loop – Rushford Area
Bus Departs 10AM sharp @ 434 3rd St S, La Crosse/Returns 5:30PM
Business Meetings/Happy Hour – Downtown La Crosse
Convenes 5:30PM @ Earl's Grocery & Saloon 401 3rd St S, La Crosse
Day 2 - Friday, August 7 – The Wisconsin Loop – La Crosse/Coon Valley Area
Departs 8AM sharp @ 434 3rd St S, La Crosse/Returns 3:00PM
Lodging can be reserved online (until July 7) with the Fairfield Inn & Suites La Crosse Downtown under the MN Assoc. of Professional Soil Scientists MAPSS/WSPSS link: HERE
Camping can be reserved at nearby Goose Island Park by calling 608-788-7018.
Box lunches will be provided each day. Registrants can contact MAPSS mapss@mnsoilscientist.org with any dietary restrictions. When you register for the event you can enter information into the form, too.
The Minnesota Loop on Thursday
The Driftless Tour on the Minnesota side will examine a cross section of the Root River Valley between Rushford and Peterson. Soils from the major landform positions will be shown either in soil pits or as soil cores in trays. There will be an emphasis on how the Minnesota Driftless topography (glaciated more than half a million years ago) and the Wisconsin Driftless Area (never glaciated) are similar and different.
There will be a brief introduction to the geologic history of the Driftless Area starting from the Paleozoic Era, through the Pleistocene, Holocene and into the Anthropocene. Pre-settlement vegetation that the soils formed under will be briefly discussed.
Howard Hobbs will present a hypothesis for why the Driftless Area was missed by glaciation.
Stops include:
Featherstone Farm Valley - floodplain and lower terrace loamy outwash
Magelssen Bluff - lunch stop
Featherstone Farm Ridge - loess on summit, aspects differences on shoulder, colluvium on valley side Arendahl Summit - 14.5 feet of loess over about 2 feet of pre-Illinois till, over sandstone residuum
Peterson Sand Pit – high terrace, sandy outwash
The Wisconsin Loop on Friday
Joe Mason will present ideas for the origin of the red clay Rountree Formation.
The stops in The Wisconsin Loop on Friday - coming soon!