Brunsweiler
B) Beaverdam Lake to Ensinger Road (9.5-10.9-11.8 miles)
| Difficulty | II-III+(IV) |
| Length | 11 mi |
| Avg Gradient | 56 fpm |
| Gauge | Brunsweiler |
| Flow Rate as of 1 hour | 19 cfsbelow recommended |
| Reach Info Last Updated | January 31, 2021 |
River Description
Though difficult to catch 'up', the Brunsweiler is truly one of the gems of Wisconsin's South Shore rivers. Access at the listed put-in may be problematic. The only road into Mineral Lake is private, and may be gated. If you are able to get in (and get permission to launch from there), you will have to paddle across the lake (if it is not iced over) or walk around a bay to get to the dam and the river downstream. For this reason, it is entirely likely most folks will use one of the alternate put-ins. We list the lake/dam as the put-in for this section in order to have 'completeness' in our descriptions of the whitewater on this river, for those who may be interested in trying to deal with the access issues in order to see these seldom-run drops.
From below the dam (the listed put-in) the river takes off at a fast clip downhill. When rock walls begin closing in, get out and scout on the right, there's an intersting small vertical falls (about 6'-8' drop) just downstream. The run-out below this falls is somewhat congested and tends to collect wood. The river deflects off a cliff face below, the heads into another drop cascading about 8'. From here to the Spring Brook Road bridge are several busy boulder bed drops.
Spring Brook Road (FR189) is where most paddlers will access this run. From here, the river is still pretty much non-stop action with extended stretches of class II-III boulderbed interspersed by three major drops in the class III to IV range (depending on flows). The first of these is a bouldery cascade that sometimes collects wood, the second a fluming drop through a bedrock sluice and the third is a very entertaining, good sized slide sequence. Below the three bigger drops, the river continues to move at at fast clip, though mostly class II. Be careful at a section of braided channel were the left hand channels may have barbed wire strung across them.
Alternate put-in at Spring Brook Road avoids more difficult upper s
...River Features
Put In
Take Out
Ensinger Road
Fine low-grade rapids continue below Hwy.13. As you cross under a railroad and almost immediately then under Ensinger Road, there appears to be a WONDERFUL landing on river-left.
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportRan Springbrooks down to HWY C @ 200cfs. The entire upstream section is a great creeky run that is mostly free of wood. As AW describes there are 3 main rapids. The sluice or dells rapid (wood RR), the double drop (most fun rapid on section ran both drops RL), and the slide before the eroded bank (ran the middle). Downstream of the slide and eroded bank the river gets wood choked and we made 10+ mandatory portages around dams and sketchy wood in sets. This runout was a bit tedious and consider using a 4WD vehicle to access the alternative TOs instead. Note that we ran shuttle via Springbrook and North York Rd's and both roads were in great condition this early in the season and 2WD was more then adequate.
I usually measure from the top of the bottom wood beam down to the water. Here is a picture to help identify what is meant by '12' 3' down' The river temp was 35 and the air temp was 65 with 2-3 ft of snow in the woods, the river rose 3' in our 2hrs of time.
Ran with Brendan & Ed O at 11ft down. Did the springbrook to eades road. The owner at the end of eades road said it was ok to park at the bottom of the hill in the turn a round by their driveway so as not to have to carry up the hill.
All 3 rapids were great at this level. We had to pull and push through the alders, portage around 1 tree, limbo under another, dodge about 426 others, and run 8 beaver dams. A typical run. Well worth it if it is up. We did not get up to see the canyon.
Nice trip in late Sept. with plenty of rain to aid in flow. Gauge is based on distance from bridge to water surface.
Level was 9'9' measured from the top of the bottom 9x12 on the river left upstream side of the takeout bridge. Very good level which made entry drop into canyon extremely difficult - a solid V.