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Great Pinery Heritage Waterway

by  drbowen

  • Great Pinery Heritage Waterway

    Great Pinery Heritage Waterway

A self-supported trip created by drbowen

Trip Overview

The Great Pinery Heritage Waterway is an overarching water trail that consist of three rivers located in Central Wisconsin. The Wisconsin River Trail is 108 miles in length starting at the Hat Rapids Dam in Oneida County and ending in Portage County at the Lake DuBay Dam. Portions of the trail hold scenic wonders as it flows over rapids and rock outcropping, through primeval pine and hardwood forest, and along the Ice Age Trail.

The trail beckons us back to a time when the Miami, called the great river, Meskonsing. When European explorers and missionary Father Jacques Marquette entered it in his journal in June 1673 during the voyage, he made by canoe with fur trader Louis Joliet across Wisconsin and down the Mississippi River.

The great river is never far from our imagination, fast flowing, scenic in its northern segments to urban and industrial as it flows south through cities that once had names such as Jenny Falls, Big Bull, and Little Bull Falls. The river has always been a gateway to the north, to the “Great Pinery” the great boreal forest that blanketed the lands to the great lake, the Chippewa called, Gitchi Gami.

In the 1870’s the river earned a new name as the “Hardest Working River in the World” when men with names like Stevens, McIndoe, Barker, and Stewart put the river to work sawing lumber for the cities and homes of the Midwest. In 1907 the Wisconsin Valley Improvement Company was established as a group of private interests to manage and regulate the flow of the Wisconsin River so that hydroelectric energy and the papermaking industry could develop and flourish.

Today, the Wisconsin has returned to its beginnings offering the paddler an adventure not soon forgotten!

Trail Vitals: 108 miles in length with 24 designated landings along its length, two state parks, state, and county forests, six dam portages, primitive camping, wildlife and natural areas, hiking and biking trails that border its banks, amenities galore, historical bridges and dams, Class I-III rapids, adjoining Class I trout streams, and a Frank Lloyd Wright home that graces its banks!

The Lower Big Rib River Trail starts its 17 mile journey in Marathon City at Lions Park as it flows east to join the Wisconsin River at Bluegill Bay Park on Lake Wausau. Joshua Hathaway in his 1839 government survey of the lands bordering the Wisconsin River between Pointe Basse and Big Bull Falls mentioned the Big Rib River for the first time.

The river flows over sand and gravel bars and along heavily wooded banks that give the river an “up north” feeling of seclusion and adventure. Heron, ducks, and deer are common along its banks and the river fails to disappoint the angler for smallmouth and walleye.

Trail Vitals: 17 miles in length with three landings along its length ending at Bluegill Bay Park, a historical bridge, and wildlife viewing

The Lower Eau Claire River Water Trail starts its 15 mile journey at the Clubhouse Road landing on the south side of the bridge and flows through boulder fields, and scenic landscapes before entering Lake Wausau just west of the historic Brooks and Ross dam. The trail passes by historical bridges, flowing through the Eau Claire River Conservancy giving the trail an “everglade” like feeling as one paddles around cattails and reeds before exiting at the Drott Street Landing where once stood one of the first sawmills in the Northwoods and having the claim to fame of cutting one of the largest and oldest white pines in the state, germinating in or around 1500.

Trail Vitals: 15 miles in length with four landings, one dam portage, natural areas, historic bridges and ending in Lake Wausau where it joins the Great Pinery Heritage Waterway.

Portage Notes

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Hat Rapids Hydro Portage
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Dam Owner: WPS
Wisconsin River Mileage Marker: 87
Portage: The portage is on the left side of the bank facing downstream
Portage Length: 528 Feet

Take Out: 45.571304, -89.479812
Put In: 45.570942, -89.480465
6260 Hat Rapids Rd.
Rhinelander, WI 54501

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King’s Dam Portage
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Dam Owner: Tomahawk Power & Pulp
Wisconsin River Mileage Marker: 104
Portage: The portage is on the right side of the bank facing downstream
Portage Length: 370 feet

Take Out: 45.482935, -89.679529
Put In: 45.483207, -89.680615
Echo Valley Rd.
Tomahawk. WI

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Tomahawk Dam Portage
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Dam Owner: WPS
Mileage Marker: 111
Portage: The portage is on the left side of the bank facing downstream
Portage Length: 528 feet

Take Out: 45.443570, -89.728225
Put In: 45.442632, -89.728703
5846 Dean Rd
Tomahawk, WI 54487

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Grandmother Falls Dam Portage
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Dam Owner: PCA
Wisconsin River Mileage Marker: 118
Portage: The portage is on the right side of the bank facing downstream
Portage Length: 475 feet

Take Out: 45.367344, -89.730563
Put In: 45.366229, -89.730204
N6958 Mistwood Dr.
Tomahawk, WI 54487

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Grandfather Falls Dam Portage
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Dam Owner: WPS
Wisconsin River Mileage Marker: 124
Portage: The portage is on the left side of the bank facing downstream
Portage Length: 2,165 feet

Take Out: 45.303868, -89.786752
Put In: 45.301325, -89.791986
N5059 WI-107
Merrill, WI 54452

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Alexander Dam Portage
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Dam Owner: WPS
Mileage Marker: 134
Portage: The portage is on the left side of the bank facing downstream
Portage Length: 898 feet
Both Take Out and Put In are located in Council Grounds State Park.

Take Out: 45.188514, -89.754247
Put In: 45.186830, -89.752708
N1895 Council Grounds Dr.
Merrill, WI 54452

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Merrill Dam Portage
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Dam Owner: WPS
Mileage Marker: 138
Portage: The portage is on the left side of the bank facing downstream
Portage Length: 898 feet

Take Out: 45.179198, -89.686283
Put In: 45.178587, -89.683888
306 S Park St.
Merrill, WI 54452

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Hadley’s Portage at the Wausau Dam
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Dam Owner: WPS
Wisconsin River Mileage Marker: 160
Portage: The portage is on the left side of the bank facing downstream
Portage Length: 528 feet

Take Out: 44.959101, -89.633632
Put In: 44.957887, -89.634035
209 Washington St.
Wausau, WI 54403

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Rothschild Dam Portage
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Dam Owner: DOMTAR
Mileage Marker: 166
Portage: The portage is on the right side of the bank facing downstream
Portage Length: 1,742 feet

Take Out: 44.894410, -89.626397
Put In: 44.891808, -89.629751
223339 Sunrise Dr.
Wausau, WI 54401

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Mosinee Dam Portage
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Dam Owner: AHLSTROM
Mileage Marker: 176
Portage: The portage is on the left side of the bank facing downstream
Portage Length: 1.18 miles - 6,230 Feet

Take Out at Mosinee Canoe Portage Park
Take Out: 44.793435, -89.692686
606 River Rd.
Mosinee, WI 54455

Put In at Chuck's Boat Landing
Put In: 44.787115, -89.704946
100 Fremont St.
Mosinee, WI 54455

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Portage Instructions At Take Out Location On Sign
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Lift phone and wait for Ahlstrom-Munksjo Security Guard to answer. Please tell the guard your name and number of people and canoes/kayaks in your party.

It will take around 45 minutes to mobilize our equipment.

If the phone is damaged, please refer to the map attached to this board and follow the instructions to make your request known.

In the event both options fail, use another phone and dial 715-692-3305.

DO NOT proceed down river without securing Ahlstrom-Munksjo help with your portage. To do so could endanger your life.

To proceed beyond the buoys is a violation of the city's ordinance and you will be subject to a fine.

This information courtesy of Ahlstrom-Munksjo Mosinee, WI 715-693-2111.

This part of the river is Ahlstrom-Munksjo Project No. 2207 licensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
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Lake Du Bay Dam Portage
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Dam Owner: CONSOLIDATED POWER
Mileage Marker: 190
Portage: The portage is on the left side of the bank facing downstream
Portage Length: 1,320 feet

Take Out: 44.666764, -89.649075
Put In: 44.664520, -89.648304

Trip Details

  • Trip Dates: 5/1/2022-9/30/2022
  • Sport/Activity: Kayaking, Canoeing, Kayak Fishing
  • Skill Level: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced
  • Water Type: River/Creek (Up to Class II)
  • Number of Portages: 11

Trip Location