Menomonee

Always take wood in the river as a serious and potentially deadly concern. This shot of Jacobus Park bridge piers shows the center of the snag which has been in place all of 2013. Look closely at left and right to see all manner of branches sticking out at odd angles. If you made the mistake of running through here, you could easily have your boat snag on one of these branches, or (in a kayak) your boat might go under a branch which might catch you across the torso or face. Without very, very careful scouting first (to know as much as possible about what lies below), any potential thrill of running snags like this is completely outweighed by the potential danger you are putting yourself in.

Just past the confluence of Honey Creek with the Menomonee River, large rock rubble lines the riverbed, along with at least two tombstones!

As the river passes through Hart Park, much of the shoreline on the outside of the bend has been armored with slabs of concrete (looks like large hunks of sidewalks). These slabs are not only on the shore, but many of them litter the river, helping to form much of the 'rips' through this area. This is not of concern as long as you are in your boat. However, if you flip and end up out of your boat here, keep your feet up!!!

Two piers of an old, defunct bridge in Jacobus park tend to accumulate wood. Quite often (as shown in this photo from 2013) the entire right and center channels will be obstructed. In this case, a long log/tree even blocks part of the left channel. Skilled boaters can maneuver to get far enough left to get around.

At the downstream end of the pool below Jacobus Park Bridge Piers, wood tends to accumulate against trees on river-right shore (right side of photo). Additionally at present, trees on the left bank have long branches hanging out over the river.There is quite adequate passage between, but you have to make sure you are between!

At (just downstream of) the put-in lies an embedded box culvert. At low to moderate flows, it tends to be a pour-over. Experienced whitewater/wsiftwater paddlers should have no problem as long as they maintain momentum and paddle through it. At some flows, it could provide some play (though water quality is atrocious, making play inadvisable). At higher flows (above 1000 cfs) it becomes an area of short choppy waves. Some boaters may be able to catch on the fly for surfs, and there may be flows which allow regaining. Thing is, the river is so 'flashy' that you never really know what the flow will be once you are on the river (after gearing up and setting shuttle).

As a result of another remediation project, there is a new and better location for take-out.

Photo sampler from a run on the 'MenTosa' section.

If one goes beyond our listed/recommended take-out, this is the only possible point of interest. At some flows, some small waves and interesting eddies allow some play and attainment moves.

After passing under the 'Stadium Freeway' (Hwy.175), the river turns left/north, and heads under this railroad bridge.