Red,

Suzy's Falls

Suzy's Falls
Photo of Tom O'Keefe by Steve taken 2147483647 @ 525 cfs

Gauge Information

River Description

NOTICE!!!

The Upper Red is perhaps one of the favorite central Wisconsin spring time runs for folks of widely varying abilities. The reach is very pool/drop in nature with drops coming where the river cuts over splines of bedrock. The majority of the drops are short and fairly steep rapids with plenty of recovery room below for those that zigged when they should have zagged.

The small shoals at the River Rd bridge (Besau's Bridge) put-in are a fair onsite indicator of the level in the river. If these look to be scrapy then chances are the rest of the run will be. Initially, the river is a meandering float through the forest interspersed with occasional class I-II rapids. A section of greater gradient follows starting with a narrow drop between boulders. Trees lodged against the boulders have raised the height of the drop to about 4' and sometimes obstruct the channel. At high flows, there is a hole which may backender boats here. Below there is recovery room and then an "S" drop (left then right) which can have a very low footbridge in the outflow. The footbridge is not anchored well so at times, higher flows will push this aside to allow passage. Use eddies and use caution here. A flatwater section follows.

Chances are you will hear Suzie's Falls before you see them. When the river takes a hard turn to the right and narrows considerably, you will want to get out on the right to scout or portage. There is a cabin on river left here whose owners have always been friendly to boaters. Please respect their privacy and confine your on land activity to river right. Just beyond the footbridge, the falls starts with a ledge of about 3'. The river boils about in a small pocket here and makes a hard turn to the left before dropping 15' or so over a wide dome of bedrock with a sweeping turn to the right, finishing with a potentially aggressive hole at the bottom. It is rare to find this kind of acceleration in central Wisconsin. The crux move here is running the top ledge and hole in control as a flip here will likely mean lost skin at the least. There is a pool below to pick up the pieces, if necessary.

There one more small rapid, then flat water down to, and a little beyond, the River Rd. landing. This site may be used for a shorter run (about 4 miles), especially for those folks that know they do not wish to run Suzy's. This landing is the first obvious roadside (as in maybe 10' away) put-in on River Rd. As parking space is limited here, please leave as few vehicles as possible and pull off the pavement if you can. It has been the practice to access the river just above Suzy's in the past but keep in mind that this involves crossing private property. There have been confrontations in the past so please secure permission from the landholder before using an access point between the River Rd landing and River Rd bridge.

Shortly downstream from the River Rd landing is a small rapid which can be seen from the road and used to judge water levels should you only wish to paddle the short section. After a short paddle, a split in the river signals First Island. Normal line is to the right of the island where the river enters some light rapids, then turns to the left and drops about 4' down a moderately steep flume. More easy rapids in the run-out. The left channel also begins with light rapids but the final drop of 4'-5' is a boulder jumble which you will wish to look at before running. Usual line is a boof off a rock right of center. Be aware that this channel is prone to catching deadwood so a strainer may be present here.

Another flat stretch, perhaps a half mile, leads to Second Island or Bridge Drop. There are several channels here but the smaller center ones are almost always log choked. At lower flows, turn hard to the right above the island with the cabin to enter the furthest channel in this direction. This turns hard back to the left and drops down a fun slide of perhaps 8' ending in a great play spot for surfing or blasting (somewhat flow dependent). The far left channel (actually straight ahead as you come downriver) passes under the bridge and drops down a wide slide, also of about 8'. Because of the width, this can be scrapy at lower flows. The most water is usually found on the right side of the slide. If you run to the left, be sure and paddle back up the right channel from below to catch the playspot.

A silo straight ahead by a turn to the right comes just above Farm Dam. The dam is no longer here but some remnants can be seen on the left at the top of the drop. This is a fairly straight forward boulder bed drop with several surf waves, the nicest being on the right at the top. There is a hole which can get aggressive at higher flows perhaps 20 yards into the drop but this is usually not a problem if you have any kind of speed.

Next up is Surprise, so named because it begins with easy bobbling rapids leading into a turn. Beyond the turn the water picks up speed considerably in a fast, wavy chute which finishes with a broken ledge of about 3'. Generally you want to run the ledge either far right or left with angle back towards center. The large eddy on the right at the bottom is squirrely and feeds back upstream with some force.

The final rapid, S-Turn, comes shortly after Surprise. Again there is an easy lead-in to a constriction that turns hard right, then back left in quick sequence. Expect a hole on the outside of the first bend up against the rock and watch for trees here as they tend to collect between the turns. As with all the drops on this reach, if you do not have the skills or confidence to boat scout this from eddy to eddy, and cannot see clear to the bottom, get out and take a look.

There is about a mile and a half of flatwater from here to the take-out. Paddle under the bridge and around the bend to a bedrock "landing" on the right. Note that roadside parking is not allowed close to the bridge so leave your vehicles in the "island" at the intersection of Cty A and Morgan Rd.

Driving Directions
From Gresham, drive west on Cty A about 1.5 miles, Cty A turns to the right (north). Continue north on Cty A for about 1.25 miles to the next intersection, Cty A turns to the left (west) but you will wish to continue straight on Morgan Rd. This intersection is your take-out. Cross the river and continue on Morgan Rd to the town of Morgan. Morgan Rd ends in a "T" intersection here. You will wish to turn left (west) onto River Rd. Continue on River Rd to either put-in. Please see put-in info and advice in description.

For additional description, see Upper Midwest PaddleGuide