For the 4th of July, I took a trip down the Fox River in my canoe. It was myself and my 11 year old cousin, packing up for a 3 day 2 night excursion. We traveled 42 miles, from Oswego to Ottawa. There are two portages for this stretch, in Yorkville and Whedron.

It was a long trip, but strong currents and good weather kept it from being too overwhelming. My cousin held his weight when it came to paddling. While he's not especially strong comparatively, him paddling in unison with me pushed us at a solid 3-4 mph rate. He also had good balance, and we didn't tip a single time.

Day 1 was pretty good. The low river level meant a constant hunt for sandbars/boulders. We went from Oswego to a small area before Millington. This involved a portage at Yorkville's Dam. I've always taken out there, and never portaged it before. It has a nice paved path, but is a bit longer than one would expect. Not a bad portage though.

Once we got past the dam, the decent current pushed us along. We looped around by silver springs state park, then shifted south towards Millington. The current was riffly at times during this particular stretch.

We would wind up camping on the edge of the river. There is a mowed field with some stairs that is perfect. In lower water, its a bit tough to pull the boat up onto, but that's well worth the nice clearing. It's far from civilization, and presumably farmer's land. There's no buildings for miles though. It was an incident free night.

Day two was both the easiest and the best day. No portage, very scenic. It was a long day of paddling, but the strong current kept it from being too overwhelming. We traveled from Millington area to the Dam in Dayton. We would pass through the entirety of the dells area on this one day, going about 17 miles. We took a few breaks, but were on the water from 8-5.

Towards the end of day two, we approached the dells area. This is easily the best part of the River, and the most scenic place on all of Illinois's northern riverways. The current flows well here too, so you can just sit back and take it all in. The dells area starts a few miles before whedron, and ends in the downtown whedron area (right by ayer's landing).

After the Dells, we had to paddle a bit harder to beat potential rain to our campsite. We planned to stay at the Dayton Dam sites. There's really not much else in the area besides fields and woods. No obviously camping clearings.

Day 3 was a simple float. We paddled a little bit, but did 6 miles in 2 hours. It was from the Dayton Dam to the end into the Illinois River. Current was pretty strong at points, but then the river slows as you enter Ottawa. In the low water, there was plenty of boulders to dodge.

We did have an incident with the dam supervisor at Dayton. Read about that here.

The portage at Dayton Dam is longer, but not too hard. The second half of it is all downhill, which I find a bit easier. It takes a while, especially if you have overnight gear. Once we finished off the portage, we jumped back into the water and were cruising.We encountered a few fishing boats, but that was it.

Overall: solid trip. Between the good weather and current, it was pretty fun. The dam troll put a damper on things toward the end, and it was still a bit tough to find campsites without advance scouting and planning.
I recommend trips like these, provided you've got a good gameplan.

The Dayton Dam is the final dam before the Fox river flows into the Illinois in Ottawa. It's about 6 miles upstream from the junction. This portage is a longer one, but has a clearly marked path along the dam.

It even has a small campground, which is available on "first come" basis. That's at least according to all the signs. posted right in the middle of the portage route. It's a nice ground, with a couple of dens, outhouses, and fire pits. What's really important is that there is mowed grass, a nice clearing to stay at. And a weekend trip, I spent a night there with no problem... Until the morning.

At 7am, I got up to get breakfast going. At that point, the dam's supervisor (troll) drove onto the dam to check it. He saw my canoe parked by the signs, and threw his 4x4 into high gear to come over and give me a piece of his mind.

Apparently, you need to make a reservation, according to the angry, live on site dam supervisor. According to him, the entire location is private government property, trespassing on which is a felony. However, you can stay there, you just need to call the number (which is posted on the signs as being "for access to potable water, please call Russ at..." a few weeks in advance and make a reservation. This phone number cannot be found online, only on the sign.

 If you make a reservation to this number, then he won't threaten to call police on you. He also might not come harass you from his jeep, while you are portaging to the river with all of your quickly packed gear, to tell you that "If he called the cops, you'd be sitting in Jail for a few days because you'd have to go in front of a judge." That also goes for my 11 year old cousin, who was with me at the time. Even kids deserve jail! I get it troll, you are mad that someone followed the posted rules.

Also, don't throw garbage in the can by the posted signs. The Dam Troll will get mad if he finds trash inside his trash cans. Maybe he was mad that someone broke the imaginary, opposite of what the sign says rules already, but take notice, do not throw trash in his garbage can.

I wish I had taken pictures of the signs (or lack thereof). Literally, there are no "NO TRESPASSING/PRIVATE PROPERTY/POSTED" signs. There is a sign board with information on the site, and some fishing info. At the time, I was rushing to set up camp, then rushing to get out of there. Oh well.

Take notice... while this site seems decent, you probably cannot camp there. Maybe thing should have been different if I hiked up to his door the night before... but then again, maybe not?