Cloquet,

US Route 53 to US Route 2 (11 miles)

River Description

Existing listing. Likely a canoe float.

Oh, what a difference direction can make. The Cloquet River has its origins at Cloquet Lake (elevation 1916'), not far from the headwaters of the West Branch of the Beaver River. But, while that stream takes a fairly direct route south and east to Lake Superior (and thus encounters some great gradient along its way), the Cloquet heads south and more westerly, to the listed put-in (elevation ~1285'), and on to the St.Louis River (just below the 1210' contour). So doing, it manages to spread this gradient across its considerable length.

Having no first-hand experience or reports, doing a 'virtual flyover' (via Google satellite view) of this river, it appears there may be a few areas of random boulder-bed in the early going. (Actually, it looks like the listed put-in misses an area of better gradient and rock-bed rapids not far upstream, though much of this may be more 'image artifact' than fact, and access to that stretch appears less convenient.) Heading downstream, the river is largely broad and flat. In the middle and later parts of this reach, numerous islands dot the stream, which could cause some compression waves in some channels at higher flows. A very short paddle-out on the St.Louis River after the confluence gets you to the listed take-out.

Unless someone can add a comment or report, detailing any areas of real whitewater on this reach, we are hard pressed to suggest that this is truly a whitewater reach, especially compared to others of far better note in the area.