Hokah, MN

Hokah sits in Houston County where the Root River valley meets the Mississippi corridor, across the river from La Crosse, Wisconsin. The city’s name is tied to a Dakota word associated with the Root River and to Chief Wecheschatope Hokah, whose settlement stood on the site. Edward Thompson arrived in 1851, built mills and a dam, and helped establish the water-powered town. Today the Root River runs below the Driftless Area bluffs, with Highway 26 and the Bluff Country Scenic Byway connecting Hokah to La Crescent, Houston, and the river road.

Como Falls is the city’s best-known gathering place, while the spring-fed Hokah Pool, Root River canoe landing, parks, ball field, and walking routes fill out the local map. The Heritage Room in the WPA-era City Hall holds town history, and Main Street businesses, the public library, churches, and La Crescent-Hokah schools keep ordinary routines close to home. Hokah feels shaped by water at every turn: bluffs above, Thompson Creek through town, the Root River below, and the Mississippi just beyond.