St. Louis

A) Skibo Mill to FR110 (7.3 miles)

Reach banner
DifficultyI-II
Length7.3 mi
Avg Gradient20 fpm
GaugeSt. Louis River Near Skibo, Mn
Flow Rate as of 1 hour
211 cfsmedium runnable
Reach Info Last UpdatedApril 28, 2011

River Description

Put-in: above 1650'

Take-out: at 1510'

Total drop: ~140'

Topo maps reveal a series of marked rapids on this stretch, and satellite view seems to show additional areas of likely rapids. We have no specific knowledge or information other than what can be gleaned from Google satellite views. Thus, class/rating is strictly conjecture (until/unless we get first-hand info from someone). The river looks to be fairly good sized and fairly 'open' (not badly overhung by trees, therefore appears fairly clear of problems with deadfall -- obviously subject to change).

Resolution on Google Satellite view is pretty good. Go to the 'Maps' tab, click 'Satellite', double-click near the put-in (not on the icon, just right near it), and zoom in to near maximum resolution, then drag/scroll to do a 'virtual walk' of this stretch of river.

Have your seen this stretch? Have you boated it? Can you provide any details? Add a comment or report! Photos (if you have them) would be great!


River Features

Put In

Distance: 0 mi

Take Out

Distance: 7.3 mi
Take Out

Took my packraft for a walk! Parked on the road. Finishing CFS on the gauge was \\\~410. There was a river wide beaver dam about a mile in that I was able to find a tongue through (sketchy), probably would have to be portaged at any lower levels. After that, it was mostly clear. Lots of wood to dodge and almost every rapid was really bumpy but passable! A half a mile from the bridge, the river splits into two, the river left channel is steep, but would go. I took the right channel but it ended in a river wide strainer that I easily portaged around. Right before the end was the most fun, splashiest rapid, around a corner. I wouldn’t call 400-450 “high runnable” i‘d call it ”low runnable”. Would be fun to check out this section at higher flows, it was up to 800 recently.