When it comes to paddling creeks and rivers, water levels are everything, and we canoeists and kayakers must hitch our wishes to the wagons of temperamental seasons and precipitation. Unlike hiking or bicycling trails that invite nearly year-round, unconditional play (except for snow, mud, or reconstruction), we paddlers are at the mercy of water volume, on bent knee at streams’ whims. In other words, we can’t just paddle a river or creek whenever we want to, when doing so fits into our schedules, for it might be dangerously high or disastrously low. There’s no such thing as “not enough soil” to walk on or “too much terrain” to safely ride a bike. But the fluctuation between too much and not enough is the modus operandi of most rivers and creeks. And paddlers need to know what’s up (or down) with water levels before deciding on where to go, lest a perfectly good day or weekend get ruined.
Hiker, bicyclist, or paddler – you’d never leave the house without first checking the weather forecast, right? Looking up water levels on rivers is no different.
Throughout the years, we’ve experienced it every which way – taking five hours to go only 7 miles because a creek was so low all we did was scrape and take our boats for a walk, emergency-exiting because a river was crazy-high and unsafe, or driving to our destination only to find it off the table because the river is ridiculously low or recklessly high. Most trips aren’t a bust, however, though the takeaway is often “this was fun, but it would have been even better with only another inch or two of water” or “this was fine, but it would have been better at a lower level.”
To be sure, there are plenty of streams that are genuinely reliable throughout the season except for during dramatic droughts or just after torrential downpours. But there are shades of gray here, too. Let’s take the lower Wisconsin River, for example. There will always be enough water to float a boat. But when it’s very high in spring, most of the sandbars will be submerged, which not only dilutes the visual appeal of the broad boulevard of a river, but it makes overnight camping all but impossible. When it’s low, paddlers will need to read the river for shallows to avoid running aground into sand (which can be a real pain in the tuchus in a loaded aluminum canoe). On streams where deadfall can be anticipated, at higher levels you might be able to ride over a limb but be too high to duck under another, and vice versa at lower levels.
Ascertaining water levels online can be simple and straightforward, but it can also be nuanced and none too intuitive. When we began paddling, many moons ago, we ourselves were flummoxed by the data provided online, naively interpreting symbols and historical averages like reading tea leaves. Eventually, we figured it out and created a guide to help others navigate the gauges we use for determining water levels. Looking back, we could have made the guide more user-friendly by streamlining the essentials (so to speak). Sometimes you just want to know what time it is, not how a watch works. So we’re taking another crack at it now, almost ten years later, inspired in part by functional changes to the online resources made in 2024 and 2025.
Using Miles Paddled to Look up Water Levels
In our individual paddle-trip reports we provide water level data wherever applicable: what it was at the time of our trip, a link to the online site to see what it is when you’re reading the report, and whether that level is low, high, or just right, according to us and other sources. Our recommended levels are based on our own personal experiences as dedicated paddlers in various styles of kayaks and now canoes throughout the years. We do not speculate, guess, or presume. Sometimes, we simply do not know and will be honest and forthright about that. To become truly familiar and fluent with water levels, one must revisit a stream several times over several years – and times of the year – but that can be impractical for streams far away from home. After all, this is a hobby, not a profession (though do feel free to make us an offer!). To help supplement and be as comprehensive as possible, we cross-reference other paddling resources for ideal levels.
If you are using our site to look up a gauge, chances are you’re reading an individual post and clicking on the live link to take you to a water level database to find out what it is at that moment. The simplest thing to do in this case is just compare the two data sets – the height and discharge (cfs) of the river when we paddled it with what it is when you’re looking it up – and then put that in context to our recommended level. That’s the cut and dried method with no need to interpret anything or dive into weeds.
Using Other Online Resources to Look up Water Levels
Generally speaking, there are two websites we reference that record water levels in real time: USGS and NOAA. The two work differently but offer paddlers comparable data and mostly overlap with individual gauge station locations. Additionally, the Minnesota DNR offers a robust database with select statewide rivers and water-level recommendations in real time. It’s important to know that while the USGS and NOAA sites offer info that is relevant to paddlers (e.g., height and cfs), they do not provide that data with paddling in mind; they are more science-based with other applications in mind. The Minnesota DNR site does cater to paddlers, however, and tells you what’s “scrapable” or “very high.” Finally, American Whitewater also provides recommended ranges on select streams in any given state – just remember that its list is only for rivers with rapids, not quietwater recreation.
USGS
Let’s start with the USGS site. To be blunt, the simplest sequence is searching the individual gauge station ID. To do so, follow these steps:
1. In your search bar, type waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/USGS followed by the corresponding gauge station’s eight-digit ID (starting with a hyphen) for the river you wish to look up. For example, for the Platte River in Ellenboro you’d type: “waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/USGS-05414000” (without the quotation marks), then Enter. This will take you to the individual gauge station with real-time data, usually measured in height (ft).
2. If you want additional information or to change the setting from Height to Discharge, cubic feet per second (cfs), scroll down to “Available Data” and click on any of the applicable options.
But this takes for granted that you actually know the gauge station’s eight-digit ID – and how often is that the case? Assuming you don’t know that ID, you’ll have to start from scratch using a statewide map. For Wisconsin, go to waterdata.usgs.gov/state/wisconsin. (For other states, type in Iowa or wherever at the end of the url.) This is the USGS water data website that replaced the USGS water watchwebsite in 2025. Once that populates, scroll down to the state map speckled with many colored dots. The page should default to “Discharge” for showing locations, but if it isn’t you’ll want to switch it to that setting.
On the map, you’ll see lots of polka dots scattered about. Each colored circle indicates an individual gauging station where water data is collected in real time 24/7. Most gauging stations record height (feet) and discharge (cubic feet per second [cfs]), though some also offer minutiae like temperature or recent precipitation. Some streams have more than one gauging station, but that’s atypical. In fact, most streams don’t have any gauging station at all. New ones are rarely added, and slashed federal funding can mean decommissioning one overnight – not a hypothetical.
The color of each circle offers a visual short-hand for its volume, with the earth tones of brown indicating below normal, a mint green for “Normal,” and an ombre of blues for above normal. (Gone are the old red dots for woefully low as well as the black dots for lethally high.)
But the colors can be misleading since they have nothing to do with how high or low a stream is for paddling. Remember: this is a scientific database, not an app for paddlers. The color of each gauging station relates to what the conditions are like (height/discharge) at that exact location on the day you are looking it up in relation to what it is “normally” for that same day/month in years past. All “normal” means here is the historical average for the same time you happen to be looking it up. In other words, what’s normal in April will be totally different than what’s normal in November.
This is why looking only at the color of the dots can lead to false positives as well as negatives for paddling. That mint green indicating “Normal” does not mean there’s enough water for safe and fun paddling; in fact, it has nothing to do with paddling whatsoever. It simply means that the gauging station has a normal volume for the same date as in years past. But whether that normal volume is too low or too high for paddling is another whole matter.
But let’s get back to our map. If you’re a geek like us, you’ll know which dot to click on to find the river in question. Off the top of my head, I have no idea that the Platte River ID is “05414000,” but I could find the right dot on the map blindfolded.
After I click on that dot, this is what generates:
So, it’s telling us that at noon on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, the gauge read 278 cfs, which is rated “Much above.” But does “much above” mean too much water to paddle? That depends. Sometimes, but usually not. “Much above” simply means that at noon on 6/9/2026 it had a volume much above what it normally has historically for this day over the last umpteen years that data has been recorded at this gauging location. And that’s because it’s rained a whole lot the last few days. To know whether 278 cfs on the Platte River equals too much water to paddle, we advise you to compare that to our recommended levels based on our past trips.
OK, but what if I want height, not discharge? And what if I want to see a chart of the river’s levels for the last week – or, moreover, look up past water levels? Simply click the “View Monitoring location page” link, which will populate the following:
In this case, it automatically changed the data from discharge to height and shows the last seven days. But if you want or need to change the data setting yourself, or you want to show both Height and Discharge, then scroll down to “Available Data” and click on any of the applicable options:
Now your map will look like this:
Some streams are measured with paddling in mind by height, others discharge. For me, I know the Platte in height, not cfs, whereas I know the Black River by cfs, not height. Honestly, it’s arbitrary. What matters is what works best for you. Whenever applicable, we offer both height and cfs on our Miles Paddled reports. And for what it’s worth, 5′ is a fantastic level to paddle the Platte! It’s also a good level to paddle the neighboring Little Platte River, which doesn’t have its own gauge; instead, one correlates with the Platte River gauge. Imperfect, but still a good indicator.
To change the timeline, you have two options: (1) enable the setting from 7 days to 30 days or 1 year, or (2) scroll down to the “Change time span” setting, click on that button, enter your desired dates, and click on the smaller “Change time span” button below:
NOAA
The NOAA site is messier. First, go to water.noaa.gov. That will take you to a national database with a gazillion dots indicating gauging stations. In the search bar at the top left of the screen, type in the state you want to look up. For Wisconsin, this is what populates:
If you know where to find your dot, click on it. For the Platte River, here’s what generates after doing so:
Not only does it tell you the height (5′), but it also offers flood stage increments. Anytime a stream is at or near “Action,” that’s usually too high to paddle; above it, almost certainly too high. The NOAA site even lists gauging locations that USGS does not always have – like the Galena River. If you happen to know the shorthand, then simply search water.noaa.gov/gauges/BUNW3 to take you to the gauge page directly. But, again, how likely is it one will know the arcane ID?
Instead, or even originally, type “Galena River” in the search bar on the water.noaa.gov home page. Just be sure to select the correct stream; since this is a national database, it will pull up any matching words. If you’re looking up the Platte River in Ellenboro, WI, to determine whether there’s enough water to paddle the Little Platte, you don’t want to mix up the Platte River in Nebraska!
Minnesota DNR
For the Minnesota DNR site, go to dnr.state.mn.us/river_levels/index.html and scroll down to look up the river you’re wondering about. It has its own color-coded system indicating low or high or in between, but it’s very user-friendly. For example, if I want to look up the Cannon River for the stretch in between Cannon Falls and Red Wing, click on Cannon River at Welch, MN found on p. 2:
That opens a pop-up bubble with a shorthand:
If you want more detail, click on the “more detail” hyperlink. It will take you to the gauge page where you can look up height, cfs, or change the time span. NOTE: just be sure you click on the corresponding gauging station, as some streams have more than one (like the Cannon, which has five).
To be fair, the gauge interpretations are absurdly broad. In the case of the Cannon, “Medium” can mean 300 cfs to five times that amount, whereas “Low” here exists within a range of only 69 cfs, which is practically immeasurable in terms of inches. Moreover, I can say from personal experience on the Zumbro River that I paddled it a full two feet lower than the recommended level and not only was there plenty of water to avoid scraping, the water clarity was stunning. But this website provide a helpful snapshot for paddlers.
American Whitewater
Finally, for the American Whitewater website go to americanwhitewater.org/content/River/view/river-index and scroll down to the list of states. For Wisconsin, it will generate a list of relevant streams A to Y. Each entry will open its own page once clicked on. The data here is mostly provided by individual members of American Whitewater (i.e., paddlers, not scientists); some pages will be sparse, others saturated. Just remember that the list of streams here is only those with rapids, not quietwater. And please consider making a donation to or becoming a member of this excellent organization. They do much more for the paddling community than provide an online database with reports. They organize, lobby, go to court, and go to bat for us. They dive in the weeds of FERC licensing and help establish public access. They’re good peeps!
Location, Location, Location…
Another keen consideration for gauges, actual or correlated, is where they’re located in relation to where you want to paddle. For example, the USGS gauge for the Volga River in Iowa is located in Littleport, over 40 miles downstream from Fayette, where the prettiest stretch of the stream is located. That’s a long way away. What the volume in Littleport is will not be the same as the volume in Fayette, but it still provides a good indication of whether the Fayette section will be fun and runnable.
Conversely, if you’re paddling downstream from a gauge, it’s usually a safer bet that if the level is good upstream, you’ll be fine for your trip – especially if it’s a larger watershed area in the event of rain, since all that drainage works its way downstream eventually.
Water Alerts
The USGS offers a helpful feature that allows you to set up personal alerts via email or text when water levels reach whatever criteria you’re curious about. This is a slick way to cut to the quick and find out levels without looking them up. To set up an alert, go to the gauging station in question and click the “Subscribe to WaterAlert” link at the top (or the tab located below).
For the Volga River in Iowa, let’s say I want to be alerted anytime it’s at or above 400 cfs – an excellent level for the Fayette section. First, you will need to create an account for this. Once done, you’ll be able to enter a value (height or cfs) for this specific gauge station, whether you want that alert daily or hourly, and how you want to receive that alert (email or text). It’s a free service, so why not take advantage of it?
Finding Your Relatives
There are ranges of water volume that are essentially objective. For example, the Wisconsin Trail Guide will tell you that at 150 cfs the ledges along the Bois Brule River in northwestern Wisconsin will rate as solid Class II rapids, whereas at 400 cfs these will equal Class III. Generally speaking, that’s solid intel you can take to the bank.
But there are subjective considerations, too. One paddler’s “just right” might be a hair too low for another – and that can be based on individual preference (shallow water usually means clear(er) water), or individual weight of a paddler or their boat, or the design style of their boat (the more surface area a boat has, the higher up it will float). As a skinny guy in a 15′-long solo canoe, I can draft over shallows without scraping more easily than someone a bit heavier in a shorter kayak.
Finally, even when a stream has enough water to comfortably paddle without scraping, paddlers will still need to read the river to avoid running aground – that’s just fundamental to paddling rivers. And sometimes that’s hard to do when it’s overcast and cloudy, or you’re chitchatting with another, or you’re simply lost in your own thoughts. Paddlers who own boats they can’t bear being scraped might want to stick to lakes instead of rivers. Or just preemptively scrape the bottom by hand to get over the first time it happens on the water!
Gauge or Gage?
Both spellings seem to be used interchangeably, but we prefer gauge.
1 Comment
Tim Diehl
March 4, 2024 at 4:11 pmThanks for explaining stream gages!
A long time ago, someone at USGS decided to use “gage” instead of “gauge”. I’m a retired USGS hydrologist and nobody ever explained this to me adequately in thirty years.
The only useful thing about our archaic spelling is that nobody else uses “gage” anymore, and so you can use it as a search term to find USGS gages.
https://woolpert.com/news/blogs/you-say-gage-i-say-gauge/#:~:text=On%20Page%2050%20of%20the,was%20added%20by%20Norman%20influence.
USGS has revised the format of its gage pages – badly in my opinion. The default variable is now stage instead of discharge. If you want discharge, you have to scroll down a ways and select it.
There’s a link at the top of each gage page where you can go to the legacy page but eventually they will take that away.
You might want to revise your explanation and illustration to match the new format.