Following Laura’s Footsteps: Our Wilder Adventures
Following Laura’s Footsteps: Our Wilder Adventures
There’s something timeless and grounding about the Little House books. I grew up captivated by Laura Ingalls Wilder’s stories, churning butter with Ma, building a cabin with Pa, the sweet simplicity of handmade Christmas gifts, and the hush of snowy prairie nights. Now, watching my own kiddo discover and fall in love with the very same stories has brought that magic full circle.
What started as bedtime reading turned into something much bigger: a family adventure, one that’s taken us across state lines, through prairie grass, and deep into American history. And we’re just getting started.
De Smet, South Dakota: Little Town on the Prairie
Last summer, we traveled to De Smet, South Dakota, one of the most iconic stops in Laura’s story. It’s lovingly referred to as the “Little Town on the Prairie,” and walking through it really does feel like stepping into the books.
We toured the Ingalls Homestead, where you can see replicas of a dugout, a claim shanty, and a schoolhouse just like the one Laura taught in. Covered wagon rides, old-fashioned laundry, and even pony cart rides help you experience life like it was in the 1880s. In town, we explored the Surveyors’ House, the First School of De Smet, and the house Pa built after the family settled there for good.
Surveyors' House
The town also honors the real Ingalls family with their gravesite nearby, which felt like a quiet, moving way to close the loop on everything we’d seen.
Walnut Grove, Minnesota: On the Banks of Plum Creek
From South Dakota, we made our way to Walnut Grove, Minnesota, where the Ingalls family once lived in a sod dugout by Plum Creek. Though the dugout itself has collapsed, its outline remains, nestled into the hillside of a peaceful stretch of prairie. Walking the trail to the creek, imagining Laura wading through the cool water barefoot, was a highlight of the trip.
The banks of Plum Creek
Just a few miles away is the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in Walnut Grove, where we explored pioneer artifacts, a replica schoolhouse, and even a depot building. The museum does a great job connecting Wilder’s books with the real-life history behind them. Seeing items like a replica of Ma’s china shepherdess brought the stories to life in an even more tangible way.
Lake Pepin, Wisconsin: The Big Woods and the Beginning
Our travels recently took us to Lake Pepin, Wisconsin where it all began. Laura was born here, and the Little House in the Big Woods was set in this lush, wooded area. In Pepin, we visited the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum, a cozy and charming space filled with pioneer-era artifacts, period clothing, and photographs that trace Laura’s earliest years.
Log Cabin, Pepin, Wisconsin
Just outside of town is the replica log cabin marking the site of her childhood home. The area around Lake Pepin is still full of natural beauty: rolling hills, tall trees, and the sparkling waters of the lake. It’s easy to picture the scenes from the book unfolding here, especially the moment when Laura receives her very first doll, Charlotte, or tastes her first baked potato.
The Journey Continues
This is only the beginning. We’ve made plans to visit even more Laura-related sites in the years ahead, like Mansfield, Missouri, where Laura and Almanzo settled and where she wrote the Little House series, or Malone, New York, where Almanzo’s boyhood home inspired Farmer Boy. There’s also Independence, Kansas, Burr Oak, Iowa, and so many other places that shaped the lives behind the stories.
It’s a journey that connects us to the past, to literature, and to each other. Every stop is a reminder that these stories weren’t just fiction, they were memories, shaped by real landscapes, struggles, and joys.
Let's keep rambling.
- Kelly