Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge is a 6,808-acre preserve in western Wisconsin along the Upper Mississippi and Trempealeau rivers, where backwaters, wetlands, prairie, and forest come together. Part of the Driftless Area, it occupies an older, unglaciated landscape that helped shape the deep Mississippi gorge visible here. Its habitats include secluded wetlands, tall sand prairie, and bottomland forest with species such as river birch, swamp white oak, and silver maple. Along the Mississippi Flyway, it is especially important for birds, including breeding sandhill cranes and hundreds of regularly occurring species. Recent expansion by about 800 acres has strengthened its role as vital habitat on the upper river.