Bad
A) Cayuga to Foster Jnctn. RR bridge (7.6 or 4.3 miles)(Upper)
| Difficulty | II-III(IV) |
| Length | 7.2 mi |
| Avg Gradient | 28 fpm |
| Gauge | Bad River Near Odanah, Wi |
| Flow Rate as of 19 minutes | 312 cfsbelow recommended |
| Reach Info Last Updated | May 18, 2022 |
River Description
In Cayuga, the Bad is a meandering quietwater stream and stays that way for the first mile or so. A railway line follows the Bad along the entire reach and the bridges provide a handy reference. At about two miles into the run, after the first rail bridge is passed, light boulder bed rapids lead into a pair of ledge drops which are a warm-up for the drops to come.
The Conley Road bridge (at 3.3 miles) can be used as an alternative put-in (shortening the run to 4.3 miles).
The Bad starts accelerating downhill from here. Take care to count railway bridges as the river builds to fairly continuous class II-II+ water. Just beyond the third railway bridge down from Conley Rd, grab an eddy and scout river-right from the railway line. Rocket Railroad Rapids, the most challenging drop on the reach, lies just below. It starts with a fast flume of water leading into a ledge (about 4' or so) followed by a steep boulder slide of perhaps another 6'.
Click this link to see video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4HEw2FD8F0
Downstream the river then alternates between fastwater and class II rockbed with a pair of class III boulderbed drops interspersed to liven things up.
You'll pass two more railway bridges downstream of Rocket Railroad with the last significant drop being located about a half mile below these. After this the pace drops off and you'll be looking for the next railway bridge which marks your take-out.
The Foster Junction take-out is located by driving 1.6 miles west of Mellen on Cty GG and looking for a small dirt road turning to the left. A short distance down this road is a grassy area along the railway. If you are not with someone who knows the run, we recommend you walk the eighth of a mile or so down the railway to the bridge over the Bad, to aid in recognizing the spot when you get to it on the river! Indeed, you may wish to mark this location with some te
...River Features
Put In
Warm-up Rapids
The first series of rapids is encountered after about a mile of flat water. Less experienced boaters may wish to take out river right to scout this class II+ sequence.
Right Tongue Drop
This is the first Class II-III drop on the run. The river-right tongue is a nice ride at 4.3 feet. Most boaters should be fine 'boat scouting', but less experienced boaters may wish to take out river left to scout.
Left Tongue Drop
This is the second class III drop of the run. Note that there is a big rock in the middle of the drop (see photo). As the name implies, we generally run down river left.
Rocket Railroad Intro
Get out river-right ABOVE the bridge (5th road + railroad from the start, or 4th RR, or 3rd RR from Conley Road, 0.9 miles down), to scout this entire sequence. Eddies below this bridge are few and small.This is the intro to the two larger drops below, and consists of three to four class II-III drops back-to-back.
Rocket Railroad A
This is the first of two big drops at the end of the Rocket Railroad Intro. Note the nasty piton rock in the middle. If you run the river-left slot, be aggressive, lean forward ('dive head-first through the hole'), as that pour-over loves to send boats vertical! At moderately high flows, a river-right boof may be appealing (to possibly avoid being unceremoniously stuffed and recirculated), though you'll have to make a quick right to head to the second part of this drop.
The link (clickable up in the main description or cut/paste from here) shows YouTube helmet-cam video as a paddler starts at the railtoad trestle and paddles through to the bottom of the rapids. Footage continues as two more paddlers run the bottom drops. Note how all three paddlers get tail-endered (and the third one swims). This can be a very sticky boiling pool, especially at higher flows!
Rocket Railroad B
The second of the two big drops at the end of the Rocket Railroad. ( Rocket Railroad A is in the background of this shot.) You usually have your option of a right or left line here.
Cool-down Rapids
This is the final class III drop of the day. It is about 0.5 miles below bridge #7 (RR bridge #6). There was a BIG LOG river left when we ran this. Scout river right to see what is adorning this rapid when you arrive.
Take Out
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportRan on 4/10/20 @ ~400 (off Bad near Odanah). This is a real gem of WW in the Northwoods. Ran from Coyuga Junction down to Foster. As described the river has a few significant drops with well spaced out flat water stretches. The flatwater however does not feel as lengthy due to how it is broken up. Additionally, as described counting bridges is helpful and taking out above 4th RR bridge to scout Conley/Rocket is good. At this level this was clearly a V- with a pretty sticky hole and a tricky upstream set up. (Upstream looks a bit like Rockcut on W. Fork). We portaged RL over bridge putting in at collection eddy RR following small gametrail/path. Downstream there are a few rapids until TO at 7th RR bridge with graffiti on it.
Ran the river Tuesday May 28 2013 me and Tyler cut the tree out of the way on the main line but part fell into the line the Minnesota crew cleaned out. We ran the main line I made it but he got stuck in the drop and had to swim after trying to roll about three times. The hole is very sticky and his boat got beat down for about 40 min before I was able to pull out with part of a tree. I also have had my boat stuck in that hole before. Any one who runs Rocket Railroad/Conley Falls should have very good paddle skills.
Video from Ed'O from a run 4/16/11 at ~5.4ft and falling on youtube. Rocket Railroad/Conley Falls (local name) was portaged.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQLpUEnreeQ
Good level for the river
Open boated this stretch several times & love it. Excellent write-up. But, for those that have been there: don't you think that main rapids should be called 'AC/DC'?
Erik Strahler coming down the final drop of Rocket Railroad Rapids
Here are the continuous class III drops leading up to the final series of III+(IV) drops of the Rocket Railroad Rapid. FUN!
First Class II-III drop. Right tongue was a nice ride at this level.
Second class III pool drop rapid. Note big rock in center. We chose left tongue.
First series of rapids encountered after mile-long flatwater intro.
This is the first of two big drops at the end of the Rocket Railroad Intro. Note the nasty piton rock in the middle. We chose left. Be careful to lean forward as the river left pour over sent both of our creek boats near vertical.
This is the final class III drop of the day. Note the BIG LOG river left. Scout river right to see what else may have accumulated here.