Eau Claire (St.Croix trib.)
Johnson Rd. to former dam site (1.75-13.5 miles)
| Difficulty | I-II |
| Length | 12.6 mi |
| Avg Gradient | 6 fpm |
| Reach Info Last Updated | October 16, 2021 |
River Description
There is a claim that all three Eau Claire Rivers in Wisconsin have at least some area of whitewater interest. This one is a tributary of the St.Croix River.
A run of 13.75 miles at 6 fpm average suggests this is a lot of flatwater (possibly with a few minor rapids thrown in).
As noted in the 'River Features' section below, the (potentially) best true whitewater may be a park-and-play under a bridge to the Gordon Correctional Center.
River Features
Put In
Drainage: ~37 sq.mi.
Drainage at the listed put-in is about 37 square miles (as calculated by USGS StreamStats beta software). By the listed take-out, it has increased to 140 sq.mi. (an increase of 278%, that is, take-out area is 3.78 times put-in area, so flows could change comparably, top to bottom)!
minor riffles?
From the put-in, there is very little which can be seen (via online aerial/satellite photos as of 2017, anyway) to indicate any rapids, riffles or rips until this point. (Which is not to say there isn't or couldn't be, just that it is not evident.)
A minor rocky shoals appears at this point, just after one of many broad meanders, and after a small island. These appear to last about 2/10ths of a mile, and perhaps a bit beyond.
McCumber Road
There may be a minor shoals as you pass undert this crossing.
minor shoals/riffles?
A minor bit of riffles/shoals seems visible on aerial/satellite view.
Shoals? Rips?
After another big roundhouse bend (meander) a couple houses on river-right signal approach to another bit of a shoals, which may continue (intermittently) a ways downstream.
S. Lidberg Bridge Road
Hard to tell (from aerials), but there may be some minor riffs and shoals not far downstream.
S.Lawler Bridge Road
Islands/Braiding
A couple of islands split the flow into braided channels. It appears the leftmost may contain some (the best?) riffles/rips. Additional riffles/rips/shoals may continue (intermittently) a ways downstream.
State Camp Bridge (Gordon Correctional Center)
Formerly our listed take-out, now recommended to continue, because of removal of a dam downstream.
It appears there may be a brief rapids right under this bridge. In fact, from aerial/satellite-view evidence, this could be the most significant feature on the entire run! Thus, this may be a park-and-play for folks really wanting the best whitewater in this river, since more recent aerial/satellite views show a revegetating floodplain of the former impoundment downstream, with no real decent rips revealed.
riffles? rips? Rapids?
I suspect the river will take some time (after dam removal) to fully find its new form through here, but it appears there may be a bit of rips at this point.
USGS sampling site: 140 sq.mi.
USGS lists a sampling site with drainage area of 140 square miles.
Former Dam Site
Aerial/satellite views from May, 2017 showed machinery on-site (as part of the dam removal process), and there appeared to be a brief bit of ledges and waves. More recent aerial/satellite views (with the dam fully removed) show nothing at this site.
We have no awareness of access here (post-dam-removal). Land may have reverted to private property, which would preclude scouting here unless one got permission. Otherwise it would be necessary to continue about another mile downstream to CTH.Y (if parking and access appear possible at that location).
Has anyone taken a look at this in person? Got pictures? Help your fellow boaters with a comment or report! Is there anything worthwhile here or not?
Alternate take-out
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportNo trip reports yet.