This is the most scene part of the lower fox river. It's a must see if you are in the area.
19 miles on the fox makes for a long day. Today I canoed 19 miles from Millhurst to Wedron. Current was up from recent rains, making for some spilled borders. It took about 5 hours, despite a strong headwind at the end halting progress. This trip takes you through the Dells area, known for it's cliff walls Suh Suh canoe launch is a riverside forest preserve in the millhurst area. Easy parking and boat lunch. Daytime parking is allowed, but no overnight. We took out at ayer's landing, where you can park overnight and personal boat launches are only $5 per boat.
This is the most scene part of the lower fox river. It's a must see if you are in the area.
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I went on a trip from Plainfield to Channahon State Park in a kayak. 19 miles. The current was up after some recent rains, so we flew down river. Except for one part... Just south of Shorewood, there is the rapids section, followed by a lake and 3 channels. We decided to take the left channel, which was partially blocked by a log the last time I went. And then this happened.... Not my best moment. The log forced our boats under the water line, and we were pushed into the river. It was wet and muddy, but fortunately not too deep so we could recover.
Besides that it was a good paddle. Just be warned! Day 4 on the Wisconsin river would take us from Boscobel to Wyalusing. We'd finish off the Wisconsin river, and move into the Mississippi for the last few miles. The current was once again super strong, pulling us downstream fast. The water level was also way high the further we got, as the Mississippi back flows in the WI. We'd go 33.6 miles in a single day. New personal record. We got to lunch, realized we could do it, and paddled hard to the very end. It wasn't as exhausting as it could have been, but I chalk that up to river current help. We'd see a couple of power boats today, but still were the only kayakers. The river would get super wide at the end, as we'd pass some very tall hills. Eventually things really widen out, and you are at the Mississippi. Getting to the Mississippi was a real highlight. The Wisconsin river is wide, but the Mississippi dwarfs it. It's also lined with hills, putting you in a sort of canyon. It was really a spectacular ending to the 92 miles of the lower Wisconsin river. To summarize a bit:
Day 1: 15.5 Day 2: 18.6 Day 3: 24.2 Day 4: 33.6 I wouldn't expect to do that kind of thing again, but the current really pushed us and enabled us to finish a day early. If we didn't have incoming rain, we might've been able to finish in 3 longer days instead of 4. We did have a strong spring current resulting from a major snow melt, which probably would not happen again in the future. I really enjoyed this trip. Tons of nature, not many other people out this early in the season. It was fantastic. Day 3 on the Wisconsin river was 24.2 miles, as we'd make our way to Boscobel. Once the rain cleared out, we made solid time down the river. The sun finally came out this day, and we were able to dry off. We'd pass through Muscoda for lunch, then also see port andrew/blue river. More of the same river wise. The water level was up, mean we could move fast without busting. It wasn't quite at flood stage, but was bordering on action. Lots of landscapes and rocks. This later section would start to follow up with route 60, so the majesty of nature was broken up a little bit. We'd camp just outside of boscobel, on the south shoreline. It was a nice foresty site, not the sandbars we were used to.
The next day would be the big one. My Dad and I did 35 miles down the Fox River, from Yorkville to Ottawa. On a warm-ish March weekend, it took about 11 hours of paddling over two days. The current was flowing nicely up until Whedron (right after the dells), then it significantly dropped off. We would camp on a small island just outside of Sheridan. We got lucky, as most islands were impossibly muddy from recently dropped water levels. It was at the 15 mile mark, so we did 15 on day 1, and 20 on day 2. We had solid daytime weather, not much headwind The portage at Dayton Dam is always a bear. It says a quarter mile, but the first 1/3rd was through straight up mud. It feels like a very long quarter mile, as you go through the mud, up a hill, over the dam, down a sharp slope, and then over a rocky beach. The signs point you every step of the way though. Overall: It was a solid weekend of paddling. I'm still shaking off the winter rust, but this was a big step in the right direction. We were fortunate to get relatively clear weather the entire trip. It got cold at points, but that's fine! Ottawa to Starved Rock state park and back is a fun 16 mile trip. It can be done in one day, but with upstream for half the time, it better works as a short overnight trip. It takes about 3 hours to go all the dam, then 5 to get back. The water level was low this round, and the islands/grasswere high and overgrown. The low water level meant reduced current, so it was easy getting back. Camping was problematic with the high grass. Sheehan Island, which is normally a gold mine for camping, was inaccessible from the back due to the low water levels. The front was overgrown with waist high grass, so we moved back upstream for a campsite.
I went on an overnight kayak trip on the Illinois river. Started in Morris, went 8 miles upstream to the dresden dam, then came back the next day. Good weather, good current, and great camping. Upstream on day 1: not hard, but certainly not easy. To get to the dam, takes about 4.5 hours. The water is fairly neutral, making the wind affect you more than usual. Speedboats were around, but not too bad this go round. Especially as you get further from Morris, they taper off. The hardest stretch is parallel to the lake. 4 miles with basically no points of interest make you feel like you are not going anywhere. Once you see the bridge, you are close to the end, with just another mile and a half to go. Heading back the next day was a breeze. Going downstream, we did the same stretch in about 3.5 hours, shaving off close to an hour of time. It's a little boring for me to see the same sights back to back days, but the current helps.
Plenty of camping by the dam. Lots of open beaches on the north side makes it easy to find a spot that isn't all brush. I got to do a couple of trips on the upper portion of the western branch of the dupage river. I started at Mack Road (part of blackwell forest preserve) in warrenville. To summarize: -Lower water (typical, but depends on rain. In low water we scraped a bunch) -Fairly suburban: You are surrounded by homes and roads a good chunk of the time -Scenic: lots of trees at parts, and you pass through a couple of parks. There is one dam. Sudo-dam, really. It's a series of 3 tunnels that allow water to pass through. They can be opened and shut, but I've only seen them open. In low flow, you can actually pass through and not portage. Definitely don't do it in high water. Downtown naperville is fun. There are minor rapids, but nothing that can't be handled. After downtown naperville, the water is fairly low and rocky. Couple of twists and turns and whitewater. but it's all manageable. Soon after 75th (4 lanes of bridge) comes Weigand park, which was our exit point on one trip.
On the other trip, we kept going to Hammel woods. I've covered that section before, as it starts with the merge of the eastern and western branches. Nothing was quite out of the ordinary this time. Flow is good, no major obstacles, and plenty of views! I was fortunate to get to do two trips on the Wisconsin river in two weeks. I traversed the 42 miles from castle rock dam to portage, WI. Once was over a cooler memorial day weekend in high water, the other was on a hot june weekend in low water. Both trips were fun but challenging, for different reasons. I'm going to write this up side by side, so you can see the difference in the water. I used the gauge at the WI Dells to measure. for the high water trip over memorial day, it was measuring at 12 feet (flood stage is at 14). For the low level trip, it was at 4 feet. Weather was good both trips. Cool on the first, warm on the second. Had rain overnight one night on both trips, but nothing torrential. Mosquitos were bad. We really had to avoid standing water. Anything close to it, and these relentless swarms would come out instantly. Some of the worst mosquito experiences I've had. Just FYI Day 1 varied for the two trips. The goal is to camp a little before the lake that feeds the dells. High water trip: Water was so high, that all islands were basically underwater. Sandbars were non-existent. We would wind up powering through tot he dam/portage, and camping on the beach at the end. Fortunately, the current was strong, and enabled us to make good time on this. The bad part was having to cut through the dells area at 5-6pm, when all tour boats are out. The water got extremely choppy in the narrows area, and we were constantly dodging boats. Low water trip: we found a great sandbar right by the lake. Few bugs, plenty of sand. We didn't make the same great time, and made camp after about 6 hours of paddling. The only tough part was the canyon/narrows/channel before you get to the final island chain. There were wind gusts of 40mph that day, causing a choppy wind tunnel. The canoe began to take on a ton of water, and w were trapped in a rocky channel with no shoreline. We got lucky and managed to hit the ho-chunk campground boat launch and empty out the 5-10 gallons of water that we had taken on. We'd rest for an hour, and then the winds died, so we moved on. Day 2 was similar for both trips. If you can camp before the lake, day 2 is the most scenic, as you are surrounded by rock formations most of the day. You go into and back out of downtown wisconsin dells, but it's very beautiful. Tour boats are the main concern here, and it's 50/50 if they leave you alone or not. The portage is long and hard. so be prepared. It's up a hill, through a parking lot, then down a narrow path. With 2 people, it takes about an hour. 3 people+ helps cut down on it. The paved path makes it easier to use boat wheels, but the paths at the start and end are tough to traverse. Once you get out of town and out of the rocks, the river opens up and there are numerous sandbars for camping. It was still much easier to find a site on trip 2, as more bars were exposed in the lower water. In both cases, we could find a great site right on the river. Day 3 was very similar for both trips. We had 8/10 miles to go. The current isn't as strong, but it takes 2-3 hours to get from the pine islands area to the exit in portage. Not much in terms of boat threats. In lower water, you rub up on underwater sandbars, but it's more of an annoyance than anything.
The exit point in portage is right by riverside park.tamarack pizza. There's a levee you climb out at. It then feeds into a parking lot. Portage WI. offers overnight parking form the PD for $5 per car. I then hire a driver to take from end to start, so we don't have driving at the end of the trip. It's convenient, as the lot is a 5 minute walk from the river. This trip is challenging, and recommended for groups. The less people, the harder it is. My favorite river in the midwest though Went on a very easy trip down the Fox river. Started in Yorkville, took out in Whedron, for a total of 28 miles. We've had torrential rains, so paddling downstream was a piece of cake. We would camp overnight, and did 20 miles on day 1, 8 on day 2. The current was moving at least 3 MPH on it's own, so with paddling, we were measuring a 5+ MPH pace. It was so strong, that Ayer's Landing (our endpoint) strongly warned us not to go. But really, the river was fine, just fast. It was a very scenic and easy trip. The higher water level made this a lazier trip. I preferred it that way, as we were able to avoid any boulders or sandbars that usually come out to play. The higher level also made it easier to get up on certain riverbanks, so finding a decent spot for camping was a cinch.
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October 2022
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