Riverscape Vacation Rentals builds a year-round business on the bluff

Connections with area’s natural amenities, neighboring communities offer further enhancement

by Joshua Sharpe

From the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River near De Soto, WI, the Driftless landscape changes by the hour. On some winter mornings, fog settles so thick in the valley that the river and lowlands disappear entirely. From above, the scene becomes a band of treetops and sky, with eagles occasionally lifting over the ridge on steady currents.

Riverscape Vacation Rentals owner Kari Beeman said those mornings can feel almost unreal - looking down, you see “nothing but clouds” because “you are above the clouds.”

For guests, it’s part of the draw. For Beeman, it’s a reminder of what her business is built on: a view that doesn’t depend on the season, and a lodging experience that stays consistent, even when the weather doesn’t. Riverscape markets itself as scenic vacation homes perched high on the bluffs of Wisconsin’s Driftless Region, emphasizing quiet surroundings, elevated views, and a cluster-style layout that keeps its rentals near one another while still feeling removed from the activity below.

VIEW, QUIET, AND A PLACE TO RESET
When asked what she would say to someone wondering whether a winter stay is worthwhile, Beeman did not begin with a checklist of features. She pointed to the Driftless itself.

“I really focus on the view and the beauty of the Driftless region,” she said. Across the rentals, she added, guests can see “the gorgeous view,” and many come to understand why people call it “God’s country.” That focus also shapes how Beeman talks about the area’s limitations. She said Riverscape is not positioned as a base camp for a heavy retail tourism experience.

If visitors want “a big touristy area with all these shops to shop at,” she said, they won’t find that in De Soto. What they will find is what she considers the region’s strongest offering: landscape, quiet, and an atmosphere that feels removed from crowds.
Winter, she said, often brings guests seeking a short reset - weekend stays that are less about a packed itinerary and more about stillness, comfort, and the sense that the outside world has been turned down a few notches.

WINTER OPERATION DOESN’T GO DARK
In many small-town lodging markets, winter can mean fewer bookings and reduced activity. Riverscape’s approach is to keep the experience consistent through the season, leaning into what winter does best: crisp air, open views, and a kind of calm that is harder to find during peak travel months.

That winter framing also matches how the Driftless changes visually. Fog inversions, bare-limbed ridges, and expanded sightlines can make a “slow” season feel more cinematic than quiet. In a region where the scenery is the point, winter can function less as an off-season and more as a different version of the same product.

Rather than closing down or scaling back, the operation continues to present the setting as usable and intentional, offering visitors a place where the season itself becomes part of the appeal.

CLEANLINESS, CONTROL, REPUTATION
Short-term rentals can create local tension when they are poorly managed. Problems tend to arise when guests are disruptive, properties decline, and accountability feels distant. Beeman emphasized that Riverscape’s approach is built around standards and oversight.

“We keep them pristine,” she said. “You’re not going to find a dirty corner in the house.”

Riverscape’s own public-facing language reinforces that quality framing, describing a consistent guest experience across its bluff-top rentals. The point, Beeman suggested, is reliability: the view may bring people in, but upkeep is what earns trust and repeat visits in a market where reputations travel quickly.

GUESTS CONNECT WITH DE SOTO
Riverscape sits above town, but guests still interact with the local economy, most often through food and basic necessities. Beeman said guests regularly ask about places to eat and where to find groceries or supplies. In a small community, those conversations become the informal map visitors use - what locals recommend, what’s open, what fits the mood of a quiet weekend.

That day-to-day visitor flow matters for winter especially. When travel slows, it becomes easier to feel like the season is “over,” but a steady stream of weekend guests can still keep the basics moving - meals, convenience runs, and the occasional detour into a neighboring town just to see what’s there.

LANSING, DE SOTO STAY CONNECTED
The river corridor is also operating under a major transportation shift. The closure of the Black Hawk Bridge at Lansing (Iowa 9 / Wisconsin 82) changed the rhythm of cross-river travel, but it did not remove it.

To keep a crossing available during construction, Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) and Wisconsin DOT officials implemented a free car ferry operating between the Lansing Marina in Iowa and a Wisconsin landing at the western end of WIS 82 adjacent to the construction area. The ferry carries vehicles on a first-come, first-served basis and runs continuously rather than on a fixed schedule, seven days a week.

For travelers, that matters in practical terms. It means visitors staying on the Wisconsin bluffs near De Soto can still treat Lansing as part of the same day-trip landscape - riverfront stops, meals, marina activity, and winter sightseeing (many of which are included on the Riverscape website that can be found at https://www.riverscapevacationrentals.com/) - without committing to a long detour to another bridge crossing.

The agencies’ published operating hours list early-morning starts and evening endings, with service extending into the evening hours. WisDOT has described the ferry as a multi-vehicle operation designed to maintain mobility while the replacement bridge project continues.

In other words, even with the bridge out of service, the river towns remain operationally linked. Visitors can still move between Iowa and Wisconsin for the kinds of small decisions that shape a weekend - where to eat, where to explore, where to stop for a view - while lodging on one side and roaming the corridor on both.

THE VIEW THAT DOESN’T WEAR OFF
In the interview, Beeman returned repeatedly to one point: the landscape still feels new to her. Even after living there, she said the setting hasn’t become routine at all.

“Every day… it doesn’t get old for me,” she said. She added that she was “standing in the window right now looking at the view,” and that it still feels “as majestic as the day I moved here.”

She described the broader Driftless corridor as part of the draw for visitors as well. The drive along Highway 35, she said, is “quite a sight to behold,” whether approaching from Prairie du Chien or coming down from La Crosse. She also pointed to the region’s historical markers, encouraging travelers to stop and read them, calling it “amazing” when people take the time to learn the stories attached to the river road.

Wildlife, she said, is another constant. Guests comment on the star-filled night skies and the stillness that settles over the bluff after dark. In winter, bald eagles are often visible along the river corridor, sometimes lifting from the trees or gliding just above the ridge line - moments that feel unexpected for visitors arriving from more developed areas.

A BUSINESS BUILT FOR LONGEVITY
Riverscape does not present itself as a mass-tourism destination. Instead, Beeman’s approach emphasizes what the region offers naturally: scenery, privacy, quiet, and an experience that feels deliberate rather than accidental. Riverscape’s public descriptions underline that positioning - bluff-top views, modern comforts, and accommodations designed to make the setting usable in every season.

In a tourism economy shaped by seasons, construction disruptions, and changing travel habits, that kind of consistency is the business model. Visitors may come for the spectacle - fog pooling in the valley, a winter eagle passing the ridge, the river towns still connected by ferry even during a bridge closure - but they return for the feeling that the place will deliver what it promised: the view is real, and the experience will match it.

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