Mindoro Cut

The Phillips Ridge is so high that a century ago, horses could not carry dairy products from the creamery in Mindoro to the rail head in West Salem over the ridge. La Crosse County contracted to dig a cut through the ridge, beginning in 1907.
The cut was dug with hand tools and dynamite, rubble was hauled down the ridge by men using wheelbarrows on uneven planks. They were paid $ 1.25 per day and many walked off the job after one day.
When completed in 1908, the cut was 74′ deep, 25′ wide and 86′ long. Guard rails went up in 1920 and it hasn’t changed since. (Except for additions by local artisans over the years, professing undying teenage love and various other messages.)
It was the second deepest hand-​hewn cut in the Western Hemisphere and may be the last one still in use without modern improvements.
The winding 7% grade going up the ridge with hidden vistas and hairpin turns coupled with driving through the cut and back down again makes the Mindoro Cut a popular destination for motorcyclists, sports car enthusiasts and old car nuts from around the world.