Wisconsin

'The Dells' is best known as a tourist mecca as people from far and wide book into area resorts to 'Ride the Ducks' (amphibious craft which ply the Lower Dells), cruise the Upper Dells, hit the water parks, walk the main drag with dozens and dozens of curio shops, and sample the multitude of other tourist traps. Outside of the summer season, much of the downtown is virtually a ghost town, as many of the shops close for the winter (not enough business to support being there, and I suspect many of the owners do the 'snowbird' thing, living in FL or AZ better than half the year).

This is not generally a paddling-frienly destination because of all the summer traffic from large tour boats. Paddlers would need to keep wide clearance from them, and be prepared to deal with their wake/waves. That said, it can be a unique experience in spring or fall (or you could hazard a dawn or dusk outing in summer before or after the throngs of tourons and the powerboats ply the waters).

A strictly flatwater paddle (at most flows) allows you to experience the dells 'up close and personal', being able to paddle in and out of some of the 'gulches' and explore little 'sea caves' where larger craft cannot go. At most times and places (save for the narrows), you can paddle upstream nearly as easily as down, since you are mostly in the backwaters behind the dam downstream.

Be aware that while some lands immediately adjacent to the river are owned by the WIDNR, much of the shoreline is private property. Going ashore at any of the boardwalks in the 'gulches' constitutes trespass, as they are generally maintained by the tour boat concessions which operate those landings under a lease from the state. (You have the right to be on the water, but you most emphatically do not have the right to be on any of these boardwalks!)

So . . . why is this entry in a database/list of whitewater venues? It's probably a bit of

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