Sioux Falls Paddlers: Wausau White Water Park

8 hours is a long road trip to get to a park, but some parks are worth the drive. If you are an experienced white water (ww) paddler or a ww playboater and/or you don't have any runnable rivers nearby, then Wausau is definitely worth the drive. (Only 6.5 hrs from Sioux Falls)

Dam gate is a slide- safely passable, what a ride!

The park is an engineered side shoot off the Wisconsin River right next to downtown Wausau. A dam gate upstream controls the flow of water into the park and "releases" of water from the dam only happen on scheduled weekends or for special events.

These releases mean the park can be open even if water levels are fairly low, but they also mean that the park is only open during scheduled releases. Typically there are two releases scheduled each month from May thru September with the dates posted at http://wausauwhitewater.org

Likes:

Sam running the dam. Photo by Angelica Schultz

The dam slide is safely runnable!
There are least 10 different features
to entertain loads of paddlers
Retentive hole for advanced playboaters
Smaller features at bottom for beginners
Nice take outs & launch rocks
Paved trail for hauling boats up and down course
Great eddies for paddlers awaiting their turn
Cheap daily fee (currently $12)
Cheap lessons ($40) include rental equipment
Paved parking adjacent to park
Free camping next to park
Flush toilets at camping area
Farmer's market next to camping area

There are always lots of paddlers in Wausau-- you're never paddling alone there. It is fun to watch the other paddlers and I find it slightly humerous to watch adults awaiting their turn to play in the waves, but it wasn't just adults. There were some kids paddling, too, usually with a parent right there if needed, although one teen was giving his father lessons. Paddlers, in general, are incredibly nice, friendly, and very supportive of beginners-- perhaps because they are all working on improving their skills and all remember what it was like to be a beginner.


Middle section before release. Great place for attainments (moving upriver) and eddy turns on the way down

There was a variety of whitewater boats there: slalom, river runners, free runners, playboats, single ww canoes, double ww canoes and some crossover boats. One fellow brought both a playboat and a 17' sea kayak, but his big boat stayed on the very bottom feature. What they all had in common were floatation bags. A swamped boat is heavy and difficult to rescue. Floatation bags prevent the entire boat from filling up with water, so the boat stays lighter and easier to rescue when swamped. All boaters also wore helmets, life vests and all the kayakers wore spray skirts.

Two days of ww paddling is exhausting-- at least for this ol' lady. Every muscle in my body got a workout, but that is good-- that means I was using my legs and core as all kayakers should.

I made it through two days of paddling without a swim-- combat rolls rock!

Retentive hole before release. The middle is a pour-over which creates recirculating currents, but the sides are sloped.
This is where the talented boaters do amazing tricks like flips and cartwheels.