Montreal, W.Fk.

On 4/26/25 a large group of folks paddled mainstem Montreal in the morning and then a group of 7 of us continued on to the WF Montreal in the afternoon. You can call the dam operator at 715-893-2213 to see what flow the dam is releasing on both the mainstem and WF of the Montreal. We had about 300 cfs on the WF Montreal this day. We put in at the bridge on South Drive (46.44676, -90.24067) and we took out at Kimball Town Park (46.48605, -90.26436).

Most of this run is boogie water and smaller rapids with three standout rapids. The first standout rapid which is the biggest and most significant on the run (Rock Cut Falls) is when the river enters a tight canyon about 1.4 miles into the run (46.45786, -90.25222). The rapid is about 300 yards long, and goes beneath the Iron Horse Trail bridge. You should stop before entering the canyon and scout from river right, unknown wood in the canyon could be a serious problem. Scouting from river left will take you up and over high rocky ledges that prevent you from seeing into the river canyon, but if you do get stuck on river left for some reason, you can hike up and around the rocks and get back down and head across the river on the bridge and scout the right side that way. The flow seemed like a good intro medium flow. The canyon has a series of waves and holes that was read and run, point down the middle, ride the tongue, T up to waves. Individual moves were class III in nature but because of the length of the canyon and things being continuous in nature the rapid as a whole seemed class IVish. The canyon is so constricted though that with higher flows I think this canyon could become quite a bit stouter. We decided to run the canyon is 2 separate pods (this rapid and the other 2 stand out rapids are all portage-able).There were 2 swimmers in the first group, 1 kayaker and 1 ww canoer. Both paddlers were okay and were able to self rescue to shore at the bottom of the canyon. Paddles were recovered quickly but both boats went for pretty long solo rides, finally both getting hung up at the next standout rapid. The whole recovery effort took a bit of time but everyone was okay and all gear was recovered.

The next stand out rapid (where the ghost boats got hung up) is about 2 miles into the run (46.46491, -90.25708). Good to stop and scout this one as well, easier on river left, this is a 2 tiered drop, at the flows we saw, the first drop needs to be a far right or far left line as there are some manky rock jumbles in the middle. Most ran left line as that seemed the less manky option of the two. Fun run out at the end.

The rest of the run was mostly boogie water with a few ledges and waves here and there, we stopped a few times to look around blind corners and through a large culvert the river passes through. Getting to the end of the run we stopped to scout the takeout rapid (Maple Sap Falls) one more time. Some of the crew took out above, some ran it once, some even hiked back up it to run it twice! Multiple lines on this rapid as well, fun to try different ones, and we even had a small audience of park-goers.

At Kimball Falls. Flow Study 2022.

Paddled on 4/5/20 from just below the Flowage to Hwy 2. Dam operator confirmed ~400 cfs + natural flow. Seemed a bit on the low end of runnable. After Gile (III- at this flow) all scenic flatwater until Rockcut falls. In this section there was one large river wide down tree which we portaged around. Other than that no in play wood. Rockcut was fully scoutable on RR. At this level would put it at III+ moves with IV- consequences due to length. From Rockcut/Railroad all fun boogie water until Zig Zag and Kimball. Kimball is also a good PnH spot and easy to lap, could also be an alt TO.

Located in a county park, the lead-in is a bit less-than straightforward. As you pass under the bridge (which no longer allows vehicular traffic, but provides access to the park) the main drop has a steep wrapping wave to the right, a fine tongue leading to a diagonal wave/hole below.

Trip Date:  April 19, 2008

I vaguely remember the level as being 'medium - low'.

Members of the Hoofers Outing Club were out for a northern Wisconsin weekend of paddling in the spring. We drove over the river, flows looked good, and we decided to run it on a weekend we also did the East Branch Montreal and Black. Flows were reportedly 300 cfs.