Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Group Forum: Other Canoe Camping Locations :: Lower Wisconsin River camping
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plexmidwest |
I will be camping for one or two nights and I think I have my wife talked in to it. Taking a Pescador 100 fishing kayak and a Wenonah Fisherman canoe for the gear. This will be a leisure trip with some fishing and maybe swimming. Thank you in advance for your input! |
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awbrown |
plexmidwest: "Doug - you mention a few sandbars upstream from Arena. Would the current keep me from going upstream very far, or is the current a non issue if you navigate well? If it's easy to get to the sandbars, I may just park near Arena, move upstream for a couple of days, and return the same way without a shuttle. I'm not so interested in paddling the river as I am in camping on a sandbar. I'll explore more of the river in the future. The current is pretty swift. I've never tried paddling upstream on the Wisconsin because it is so much fun going downstream. |
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awbrown |
OldFingers57: " My wife and I have done the Lower Wisconsin River numerous times. I have never heard any rule about drift wood although we usually don’t see too much of it lying around. " Collecting driftwood along a public waterway in Wisconsin is illegal. |
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plexmidwest |
I think this trip turned into a solo. John |
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awbrown |
It's a leisurely trip and the only real hazard (and it's not much) is at the very beginning passing under the Rt. 60 bridge at Sauk City. It's pretty swift current right at that spot. |
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mirth |
Saturday we woke to realizing that the river had gone up a little & put a stick at the edge. We then watched the river slowly creep up from the stick all day while we sat in the stream and drank & relaxed. Late afternoon a big group of younger adults set up camp on the upriver side of the sandbar, at least 100 yards away from us. That night it pours rain again, upstream and on top of us. 5AM the upstream group is up and hollering because the river is now passing through their campsite. When we left at 9 the next morning the river had risen to less than a foot below the downstream edge of the sandbar and the bar was now bisected into sand islands. I guess my point is, check in once or twice with the upstream gauges just so you know what's coming (literally). |
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plexmidwest |
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deerfoot |
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mirth |
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plexmidwest |
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mirth |
https://thebestcanoecompanyever.com/conditions/ |
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awbrown |
plexmidwest: "I was wondering about a shuttle for my truck only. Anyone used an outfitter to move your vehicle, or arrange for a pick up? I would think I'd like to have my truck parked near Spring Green. And are camp fires permitted?" We always shuttled our own vehicle from Veterans Park in Sauk City to the boat landing parking lot at Spring Green the morning of the put in. You can have campfires but not by using driftwood. No glass bottles and 3 day maximum at any given campsite. That's about all the rules. The current can be strong and there can be sudden drop offs if you wade out from a sandbar, so if you have little kids make sure they have a pfd on any time they get close to the water. There also used to be a "clothing optional" beach along the route, at Mazomanie (sp?) but I think that has been closed since 2016. |
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plexmidwest |
There's a river conditions site where you can check the discharge rates at the Prairie Du Sac Dam, and it looks just above 10,000cfs. According to Wisconsin Canoe Co: 3,000-10,000cfs (1?- 3? deep) | Typical summer conditions, plenty of sandbars and easy navigating. Sandbars are still quite large and can comfortably fit as many as 100 people. I just need a sandbar for 1 person, not 100, but hopefully the conditions will be prime. Going to be 88 degrees with 40% chance for rain last I checked. |
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plexmidwest |
Thanks for the tip about the drift wood...I'm sure there's a good reason, but I wonder why you can't burn it? Nude beach? I'll surely waive in passing. I was going to bring a tarp and 2 poles for shade. |
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OldFingers57 |
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plexmidwest |
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