County Highway E to Apple River County Park:
I took on two slices of the Apple River in northwestern Wisconsin on successive days during a sultry July weekend in 2024. This is a review of the first slice – a slow, marshy bit of water that’s ideal if you’re in a lazy river sort of mood, but sub-optimal if you’re after a bit more challenge and adventure on your rivers.
By Denny Caneff
A Miles Paddled contributor
Rating: ☆ ☆ ☆
Trip Report Date: July 20, 2024
Skill Level: Beginner
Class Difficulty: Flatwater
Gauge Recorded on this Trip:
N/A
Gauge note: Curiously, there are no USGS gauges on the Apple River – none whatsoever.
Recommended Levels:
This section flows out of White Ash Lake (northeast of Amery) and given the many adjoining marshes that contribute water to the Apple, the near absence of gradient and total absence of obstacles, this slice of the Apple should always be navigable.
Put-In:
County Highway E, 10 miles northeast of Amery (there are no nearby towns of any consequence, but Google locations like Bunyan, or Fox Creek, or Range, and you’ll get close.)
GPS: 45.44553, -92.324
Take-Out:
Apple River County Park, on Mains Crossing Avenue, Amery, Wisconsin
GPS: 45.38754, -92.36824
Time: Put in at 12:15p. Out at 3:00p.
Total Time: 2h 45m
Miles Paddled: 9.25
Wildlife:
Phalanx of noisy Harleys traveling on County Road H.
Shuttle Information:
Straightforward – from the put-in, travel west on 165th Avenue to Polk County Highway H, then south on H (aka 100th St.), across U.S. Highway 8, then turn right at Mains Crossing Avenue to reach the takeout at the county park.
Background:
I grew up in southeastern Minnesota, not quite in the Twin Cities, and even there and then (the old days of the early 1970s) the Apple River, in western Wisconsin flowing through Somerset, had a reputation as a fine tubing river, in the debauched way that teenagers enjoy tubing. But now as a wizened and grizzled kayaker, I have no interest in jousting with tubers, though I’m happy they’re enjoying a river (and, of course, leaving no trace, ha-ha.)
I haven’t been able to dispense that reputation of the Apple, until I crossed it many miles upstream from the Ground Zero of tubing at Somerset. What I saw upstream immediately appealed, so I concocted two trips on different bits – or is that bites? – of the Apple.
This first bite was standard as apple pie, though unrecognized by all the paddling sources (digital and printed.) Though it seems known to local paddling aficionados, as the put-ins and take-outs were well worn – though that wear may be from the feet of anglers. (The second bite the following day is well-known to experienced paddlers and was more delectable, with a dollop of whipped cream which, unfortunately, didn’t last long.) This section is a perfect float for those inclined toward a lazy-river experience – slow, wide, cool, clean and obstacle-free.
Overview:
Though the put-in – with plenty of parking space on the upstream side of the County E bridge (river right) – is a bit thick with bulrushes, there’s a slot carved in them by boats entering the water. Nearby you’ll see a convenience store and bait shop named Pap’s, whose digital sign flashed time, temperature, stuff for sale, and, flatly, “Let’s Go Brandon.” The day after I ran this piece of the Apple was the day Joe Biden stepped out of the presidential contest (Maybe I need to go back to see what Paps is saying about Kamala Harris.)
There was nothing politically or biologically slimy about the river. Wide, slow, marshy, with puffy clouds reflected in the wide water, the Apple here is a sit-on-topper’s dream. In fact, I soon caught up with four women drifting lazily along on their sit-on-tops, lollygagging on their particular bite of the Apple.
In due respect to my dear friends who love marshes and wetlands, I’m not a huge fan of paddling through them. I like my rivers narrow and swift, with occasional unknowns around the corner. This part of the Apple has no unknowns; you can see what’s coming.
And for the occasional or casual paddler, what is coming is sweet: slow current, clear, cool water, and not a hazard in sight. The river widens to 300 to 400 yards; the current, at times negligible, is still discernible by the back-and-forth swaying of a prolific aquatic plant. No development was visible, and the only audible noise at this point was the buzzing of flies.
Eventually the marsh ends (for now), the river narrows and the current picks up. Here are the first rocks I encountered, a scenic little boulder garden framed by an arched footbridge. As the river makes a left turn, Fox Creek comes in from the right, jazzing up the Apple a bit with fresh, cold water (one could nose their way up Fox Creek for a bit of a side trip.)
DN Campground (meaning “Do Nothing,” apparently) sits along the right bank of the river; its use of the river was notably low-key and respectful – no docks, no stacks of tubes or floaties, just a very small beach. The semi-permanent nature of the camping rigs gave the place the feel of a rough-hewn trailer park.
The narrows-to-marsh-to-narrows pattern continues. But soon the serenity of the scene was shattered by a low roar – but from what? A freight train? (But no tracks anywhere nearby.) An errant F-35 jet that lost its way back to the Air National Guard base in Madison? It was guttural, throbbing, and increasing in intensity. I knew I was approaching County Highway E and I finally figured it out – a massive herd of what had to be (I didn’t see them) 20 motorcycles. They crossed over the Apple just before I arrived at the bridge.
Here at County H there’s a nice landing featuring old carpet (upstream side, river left!) Once under H, the largest piece of marsh awaits you (or confronts you, in my view). The marsh ends and the river narrows once again at 153rdAvenue, and remains perky and enjoyable until the end.
You’ll know the end when you see a snowmobile bridge and the US Highway 8 bridge ahead of you. Though Google Maps indicates a widening of the river here, suggesting a flowage and even labeling it “Shiloh Flowage 151,” there is no dam. But there’s evidence: woody vegetation hasn’t completely grown in where the back-up water had been; there are dwellings between the road and the left bank of the river, placed as if they’d been built on water; and it appears the snowmobile bridge’s abutments might be built on the remains of the dam.
In three minutes, the river puts you at an ideal takeout (river right) at Apple River County Park. Do NOT continue past the county park. You will only encounter the misery of a large, snotty flowage formed by the dam in Amery.
What I liked:
What I really enjoyed this day was how local folks were making good use of this sweet stream. There were the four sit-on-top women, passing beers and gossip back and forth. There were two kids from the campground just getting into the river with their tubes. And there was a family of Ma, Pa and two kids, each with their own device (lawn chairs for the parents) wallowing in the river at the county park.
What I didn’t like:
As mentioned above, I’m not a fan of paddling slow, wide marshy rivers. I know that is many a water lover’s ideal setting. I got what I really wanted the following day, on a different slice of the Apple.
If I did this trip again:
I won’t.
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Related Information:
Apple River II: County Highway E to Apple River County Park
Camping: Apple River Park & Campground
General: The City of Amery
Wikipedia: Apple River
Photo Gallery:
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