Beaver Dam

No wires but two or three possible portages as of March 2026. The first tree is in between Davis St. and Cooper St. Kayakers in short boats could maybe run it in the middle or butt-scoot over on the far left (at least at our water levels). The second downed tree lies just downstream from the retention pond riprap (river-right). This tree would be easy to cut with a chainsaw. We portaged over the loose, angled riprap. Scroll to the end of the comments at https://milespaddled.com/beaver-dam-river-iii/ for a longer report.

I paddled this section April 13&15, 2023 at ~230 CFS, and on 10Oct2024 at 210 CFS. (The history of the Beaver Dam River gauge shows that they open and close the dam gates abruptly, so check it shortly before paddling.)

The wave below Mill Street was big enough to douse my life vest. I'm glad I was wearing a spray skirt. My friend took water over the bow of his 14.5 ft. canoe and bailed out a couple of gallons of water downstream from the wave.

At Pearl St., a large retention pond is under construction as of Oct. 2024. How will the pond affect the river for paddlers, I wonder?

As noted in the main description, ' there are trees to duck, dodge, or maneuver through!' On Oct. 10, 2024 there was a log across the entire river downstream from Davis St. and upstream from Cooper St. We portaged river left. Here's a link to 8 photos of the river, including 2 photos of the log: https://photos.app.goo.gl/UsP7yyj1w3v9MLDg7

As of Oct. 10, 2024 a large tree limb blocked the middle channel of the arched railroad bridge, except for a narrow passage near the right wall. We slowly sneaked between the limb and the bridge wall.

The launch at Cotton Mill Park and the landing at Hwy J have been improved within the last few years.

Here's a trip report and video via wisconsinrivertrips.com from April, 2017.  The author was caught in an unexpected 420 CFS dam release: https://www.wisconsinrivertrips.com/segments/beaver-dam-river

Be safe out there!

Likely well-known by experienced paddlers, but another “hazard“ of paddling this (or any other) river in Wisconsin during summer months … horseflies and deer flies! Not generally a problem in the first mile (in town), but expect to be totally swarmed by them on any warm day through the rest of the run. Either cover all exposed skin with bug repellent, or wear a long-sleeved paddle jacket with high-necked collar, and a bug headnet! (And frankly, I’ve even had them bite me through a nylon jacket!)

We were able to pull the middle branch that goes into the river off of the tree. Much safer to paddle.

Both times I took on lots of water here

Water trips over a river-wide short cement wall (weir). At certain (moderate) flows, there may be some minor amount of play possible here.

The scenery isn't much to look at as you head downstream behind Kraft Foods plant. The narrowness of the (no doubt long ago artificially straightened and deepened) channel makes for swiftwater riffles and rips down this stretch, but expect no real rapids.

Rocky rubble in the river causes a minor rips. At some flows, there may be minor play possible here. The quarried rock reinforcing the shores will likely be brutal on paddles if you try for eddies to regain this feature.