Galena to Mississippi River:
A fairly primitive yet tidy trip, this last leg of the Galena River starts in its historic namesake city and then ends in a side channel of the Mississippi River. While the current is next to nonexistent and the water clarity is between brown and opaque, there’s virtually no development in the first four miles but for railroad tracks and some power lines. There are, however, steep hillsides and ragged bluffs, not to mention the novelty of paddling into the Mississippi River.
Rating: ☆ ☆ ☆
Trip Report Date: February 27, 2024
Skill Level: Beginner
Class Difficulty: Flatwater
Gradient:
<1′ per mile
Gauge Recorded on this Trip:
Buncombe: ht/ft: 2.8 | cfs: 60
Recommended Levels:
There should always be enough water to paddle this trip. Note: ordinarily, these levels would be way too low to paddle this river, but that’s for the upstream segments (aka the Awesome Galena, aka Fever Pitch). Shortly after Buckhill Road the river becomes a totally different stream and loses all its gradient, current, and clear water.
Put-In:
Public boat launch off Main Street, Galena, Illinois
GPS: 42.41015, -90.43116
Take-Out:
Ferry Landing Boat Ramp, Mississippi River
GPS: 42.38785, -90.4672
Time: Put in at 11:00a. Out at 2:00p.
Total Time: 3h
Miles Paddled: 5.5
Wildlife:
Hawks, white pelicans, sandhill cranes, turtles, muskrats, and a beaver (unseen but splash-heard)
Shuttle Information:
2.75 miles. Logistically easy, but a workout on a bicycle given the steep hills (though the descents are awfully fun and fast!). On the way, be sure to stop at West Street Sculpture Park – it’s pretty cool. Also, it’s worth noting that you could paddle this there and back easily enough, as there’s negligible current.
Background:
We first ventured into Galena Country (insert eye roll here) back in 2013, though our first splash in the river on the Wisconsin side was in 2009, when Miles Paddled was just a young pup. Since then, we’ve gone as far upstream in Wisconsin as anyone has a right bothering with and as far downstream in Illinois as Buckhill Road. Alas, the stretch from Buckhill Road to downtown Galena is pedestrian at best, to borrow from Courtney Barnett. The characteristic clear water and swift current up to this point peters out, and even the showy bluffs subdue. (That said, if paddling five miles along a flat canal with lackluster views is your thing, then this is your trip!) But the final four miles from Galena to the Mississippi River have stuck with me like so much bank butter on the soles of my sandals that I had to do it someday. (“Bank butter” being the colorful euphemism for mud coined by our beloved and much missed buddy, Jeff, aka Kayak Guru.)
Depending on which side of the state line you’re on, the same stream goes by two totally unrelated names: “Fever” in Wisconsin, Galena in Illinois. (Kindly see our “Guide to the Galena/Fever” for more on that.) For the sake of this trip, it’s Galena, since we were in Illinois.
Unlike the section of the river from the Wisconsin border to downtown Galena (~15 miles), the final leg of the Galena River to the Mississippi River is considered a public body of water in the eyes of Illinois law, thanks to its being deemed “navigable” back in the day. To be clear, “navigable” in this sense has nothing to do with modern-era paddling, but instead is related to commerce in the 1800s. In the boomtown days of the mid-19th Century, Galena was a bigtime port city thanks to its epicentric importance exporting lead (aka “galena”), and steamboats came up and down to and from the Mississippi River. Though unimaginable today when you look at the stagnant backwaters of the river downtown, it was once three times wider. Hence all the money in Galena, the commercial buildings and stately mansions (most notably the former home of Ulysses Grant). Hence Wisconsin’s first state capital being in Belmont, only 20ish miles north – in Grant County. By the 1890s, miners and the mineral magnates for whom they toiled managed to do what Big Oil had to do a century later at gas pumps across America: they got the lead out (and thus inspired knock-on tribute bands and classic rock stations cueing “Black Dog” or “Ramble On,” “Stairway to Heaven” or “The Song Remains the Same”).
Today, paddlers needn’t concern themselves about the legalese when on the Galena. After all, there’s at least one outfitter that offers prescribed trips upstream of downtown Galena – to wit, where it’s not considered public. There’s no way that folks coming from Chicago or Wherever, Iowa, or even Wisconsin are driving three hours to worry about trespassing or getting arrested for paddling. (The neighboring Apple River might be a different story…) Galena, IL, survives on tourism. If the specter of trespassing were writ large along the countryside, then would-be tourists would do well to reconsider their recreation. And since nobody’s happy if mama commerce ain’t happy, then let the Galena River get a paddling imprimatur.
Overview:
The access at the Galena public boat launch off Main Street is excellent. It’s on the right-hand side of the river, although there’s another access on the left-hand side. (We chose the one on the left since it’s smaller and more direct relative the shuttle route.) A railroad bridge lies 500′ downstream. For what it’s worth, a total of three trains passed during this trip, always a neat effect. Also neat about the trains is at the Main St boat launch the tracks are on the opposite side of the river (left), but then the tracks make an elegant ‘s’ curve of their own as they cross over the river and then run parallel on the right. (It’ll make another elegant bend to the right switching to the northbound tracks a little later on in this trip, near the confluence.)
While you still can, it’s worth turning around to look upstream at downtown Galena; the old brick building facades, the courthouse and church steeples, the sinuous streets – it is postcard charming. From here down to the river’s mouth at the Mississippi the total distance is just shy of four miles – and much of it repetitive: long straightaways with only a handful of gentle bends, as little current as there is meandering, scrubby banks, and a couple peek-a-boos of towering bluffs, hidden rock outcrops, and eroded sand. That might not elicit the most influential come-hither appeal to paddle this trip, admittedly. But what does stand out on this trip is its relatively primitive surroundings – as in none. But for the railroad tracks and power lines on the right, and a barely discernible bike/pedestrian trail on the left (the wonderful Galena River Trail), the surrounding landscape is too rugged and ragged to support much development. Together with a little helpmeet of imagination picturing the leaden heyday of the past when the city was a major port – more important than Chicago, in its prime – and steamboats came up and down the river to and fro the old Mississippi to build the budding country, this trip has a unique allure.
After the only notable tight bend to the right followed in turn by a gentle arc to the left you’ll pass under another railroad bridge. This one serves trains running up and down the Mississippi River itself, the east bank. Past it, about another 500′ later, the Galena River hits a kind of wall at which you’ll want to turn right (north). (Going left/south, while plenty pretty and entertaining in its own right, would require 7+ miles of paddling Mississippi River backwaters to the next public access at Blanding Landing.) While you’re technically paddling upstream now on Mississippi River backwaters, there’s as little current here as on the Galena. The banks are shorter and brushier than on the tree-lined Galena; hence, the views are a little more open. Indeed, the landscape feel, from the perspective of being in a boat, is totally different.
A quick word here about being on the big river. First, for all practical reasons, you’re nowhere near the main channel here with its hazards of barges, play boats, or wind, even though you’re only half a mile from the main channel. (That’s right: the whole, brawny Mississippi River is a full mile wide here! Think Packers running back, AJ Dillon, aka “Quadzilla.”) In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find your way to the main channel through the labyrinth of side channels. Second, the ease of paddling here will correlate to what’s happening on the Mississippi River itself. That might sound obvious, but let me put a little English on it. Ranking 4th in the whole world for watersheds, the Mississippi River drains 40% of the continental U.S. (Sit with that fun fact for a minute, would you. Almost half of all moving water in the 48 states finds its way to the Mississippi at some point or another. That’s just extraordinary!) So, when rivers upstream are swollen with floodwater, that’s all coming down the pike bye and bye, no stopping it, even if where you’re at hasn’t seen a drop of rain in weeks. As such, the islands that comprise the backwaters here could be submerged, if the Mississippi is high. Alternatively, in the cold season between November and April, these veritable pools could be frozen, even if the main channel is open and flowing.
It’s 1.5 miles to the boat launch. Bluffs line the right bank, as do the railroad tracks. This is where the soul of the Mississippi River lives, in its backwaters. So, soak it up and saunter around. For us, the wildlife was thunderous with wonder: at least a hundred pelicans, a dozen sandhill cranes, ducks and geese galore, etc. This is the Mississippi Flyway, remember: more than half of all North American migrating birds come up or down this highway of flight twice a year. Eventually, you’ll see some houses on the right, and then the buildings and docks at the landing. The docks here are private, but the general boat launch itself is public – and at the time of this writing, free. It’s worth noting that there is no ferry here, notwithstanding the road that ends here being named Ferry Landing Road. Maybe a relic from the bygone lead days…
What we liked:
We love confluences! Paddling on one stream and then onto another – especially the mighty Mississippi – has a transformative effect that’s hard to articulate; you simply feel it stir in your soul. So does contemplating the… whatever one wants to call it – the life span, the narrative arc – of a river from its awkward but adorable toddling way upstream, to its teenage leaps and bounds, then its adult stride, and finally its quiet and quiescent end as it resigns and loses itself to become something else. There’s poetry in that, power and poignancy as well. All things considered, the Galena is a little river, only 50-some miles long, half of which is a hiccup of a trickle. It’s a fantastic river in the half-dozen or so miles both up- and downstream the state line between Wisconsin, where it begins, and Illinois, where it ends. There, it’s all big bluffs with rock outcrops and calved boulders, and clear water with swift current. The views get lackluster and the current gets slack as it crawls to its namesake city. But its final miles offer a trip back in time, even if the current has entirely disappeared. And then there’s the tasty dessert of a mile and a half up the soulful backwaters of the Mississippi. Easy-peasy accesses plus excellent wildlife made for a very fun trip all around.
I have mixed feeling about the City of Galena itself (see below), but I do love the layout and overall look of the place; its aesthetics are exquisite. It’s old in all the right ways and undeniably charming.
What we didn’t like:
The casual paddler will be forgiven for finding this trip a little dull. Between its stillness and the long straightaways, the river feels more like a very skinny lake. The occasional hills are attractive, but nowhere near as pretty as the up-close outcrops and big bluffs found upstream near the Wisconsin border. There, too, the water is clear and gorgeous. Down here it’s turbid.
Unrelated to the river itself, the City of Galena is like the historic town of Mineral Point filtered through the kitsch of Wisconsin Dells or the wealth of a place like Aspen or Sundance. In a sense, it’s both. It’s undeniably quaint as hell with rollercoaster hills, narrow roads, rough-hewn stone houses and beautiful brick buildings with old doors, old windows, old cellars, old everything. But it’s also gaudy as all get-out with tourist traps trying way too hard to be quaint (and way too self-aware of their quaintness). It’s a 3.5-hour drive from Chicago, yet a world apart in terms of, well, everything. That’s a far enough drive to make it a long weekend for most city slickers looking (and willing to pay) for a back-in-time Currier and Ives experience. Fair enough, but I’m biased. The old-fashioned candy shoppe and old-fashioned ice cream parlor juxtaposed with the chic boutiques, French baguettes, fancy bangles, and Bed & Breakfasts – it’s all too foo-foo and bougie for me. I’ll stick with Mineral Point instead and have a pasty at The Red Rooster with a two-buck cup of black coffee.
If we did this trip again:
I wouldn’t do anything differently, but I won’t be hot-footing it back to Galena again anytime soon. It’s definitely worth doing… once. But I doubt redoing is in the works. That said, if 5.5 miles is too short a trip and/or you want the whole Galena experience (facial, pedicure, lavender foam latté), then add 5ish miles by starting at Buckhill Road upstream. You’ll have a postcard vignette of the bluffs and limestone outcrops and then see the pretty little city of Galena gradually come into view.
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Related Information:
Galena/Fever River Overview: Galena/Fever River Paddle Guide
Galena/Fever River I: Twin Bridge Road to Bean Street Road
Galena/Fever River II: Horseshoe Bend Road to Buncombe Road
Galena/Fever River III: Ensch Road to Buckhill Road
Galena/Fever River IV: West Council Hill Road to Galena
Guide: Paddling Illinois
Outfitter: Nuts Outdoors
Wikipedia: Galena River
Photo Gallery:
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