Gundersen and city of La Crosse partner to open new trail

It’s a community trail now.

The newly named Swift Creek Trail was unveiled Thursday. A multi-use trail that had previously been for Gundersen Health System employees is now open to the public in more ways than one.

“We’ve been able to create a couple of additional access points to this trail and then link it up farther down, toward downtown La Crosse, currently up to Isle La Plume,” Gundersen CEO Scott Rathgaber said. “You can bike it, you can run it, you can walk it.”

Even the community named the trail.

“We got over 300 suggestions when we asked the community for names,” Rathgaber said. “A committee boiled that down to eight, and then we had the community vote on that.”

Rathgaber added that the opportunity to open it to the public is another step in making the community a better place.

“This is open for everyone … to come down, get some exercise and continue to build these little pieces that all add up to our health in our community,” he said.

Rathgaber credits the partnership with the city’s parks and rec. department for making the expanded two-mile trail a reality.