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Cochrane, Wisconsin: Prairie Moon

RoadsideAmerica.com Team Field Report

Address:
52727 Prairie Moon Rd, Cochrane, WI
Directions:
Hwy 35 five miles north of Fountain City. First left after Cochrane-Fountain City School onto Prairie Moon Rd.
Hours:
Daylight, Museum open Su afternoons May-Oct. (Call to verify) Local health policies may affect hours and access.
Phone:
608-687-8250
RA Rates:
Worth a Detour
Save to My Sights

Prairie Moon.

Prairie Moon

For 25 years retired farmer Herman Rusch built odd sculptures around his similarly odd museum in an old dance pavilion. It's folk art -- and it's been preserved.

Roadsideamerica.com Report...

Visitor Tips and News About Prairie Moon

Reports and tips from RoadsideAmerica.com visitors and Roadside America mobile tipsters. Some tips may not be verified. Submit your own tip.

Prairie Moon

Someone is obviously taking care of the place. Flowers are planted and watered, and everything freshly painted. Looking great, and a nice public bathroom to boot!

[LamFam, 07/08/2021]

Bear fight.

Prairie Moon

The last stop of our ongoing Wisconsin concrete tour, this one is my favorite so far. Super-intricate concrete sculptures in the middle of a corn field between the Mississippi and the Bluffs, such a beautiful setting. This park has all sorts of concrete sculptures: people, animals, action, fantasy, and a really weird fight between a bear and trapper? So great. Has a really nice plaque and map of the site with lots of info.

Be sure to have a sandwich at the grocery/deli in town. If you happen to talk to the owners, they'll tell you about the ghost that lives in their store.

[Nicole, 06/04/2013]

Prairie Moon.

Prairie Moon

I visited Prairie Moon in July of 2010. I went in the morning and the sculptures glowed against the lush green glass. It is wonderful and in pristine condition. Way to go, Wisconsin and the Kohler Foundation, for taking such good care of this gem.

[Mary Norvell, 08/18/2010]

Herman Rusch at Prairie Moon.

Prairie Moon

I was scanning some old photos recently and had some of the Prairie Moon Museum. In the '70s we used to drive up from Ohio each summer and vacation across the river in Minnesota. We went to the Prairie Moon Museum a few times. I searched the web to see if it was still in existence and found an entry on your site. It mentioned that the creator, Herman Rusch, died in 1985 at age 100. I thought you might be interested in seeing this photo of him taken in 1975. I had no idea he was that old; he got around very well for 90.

[mike ertel, 05/08/2009]

Nearby Offbeat Places

Viking Statue with No FeetViking Statue with No Feet, Buffalo City, WI - 4 mi.
Castlerock Arms and Armor MuseumCastlerock Arms and Armor Museum, Alma, WI - 10 mi.
Fort Ticonderoga TombstoneFort Ticonderoga Tombstone, Winona, MN - 13 mi.
In the region:
Ice Cave - Frozen in Summer, Decorah, IA - 61 mi.

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