Middle Road to Riviera Avenue:
Wedges is yet another Black River Falls creek that you’ll want to add to your bucket list. This brief 4.25-mile run makes for a great half-day adventure or add another few miles of Black River paddling for the additional payoff of outstanding whitewater, beautiful boulder gardens and rock outcrops.
Rating: ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
Trip Report Date: September 20, 2015
Skill Level: Intermediate
Class Difficulty: Class I(II)
Gradient:
7.6′ per mile
Gauge Recorded on this Trip:
Neillsville (Black River): ht/ft: 3.32 | cfs: 172
East Fork Black River: ht/ft: 892.09 | cfs: 89.40
Gauge note: The Neilsville gauge doesn’t directly correlate to the creek. It does, however, give a good idea if there has been recent water in the Black River Falls area. The East Fork gauge is geographically closer than Neillsville while measuring a more comparable watershed.
Current Levels:
Neillsville (Black River): ht/ft: 5.92 | cfs: 1570
Visual Gauge:
Wedges Creek Visual Gauge 1 | Wedges Creek Visual Gauge 2
There are two visual gauge options for Wedges. The first is located on the upstream side of Middle Road. Ideally, you don’t even want to see the rock sitting in the middle of the creek. If just the tip is exposed, you’ll be in good shape. If it looks like this, you’ll scrape quite a bit but it’ll still be doable. Less than the photo, put on your walking shoes. The second visual gauge is located on the downstream pylon of the County Road B bridge.
Recommended Levels:
This is below the recommended minimum level – anything below this simply wouldn’t be worth it.
Put-In:
Middle Road, Columbia, Wisconsin
GPS: 44.51602, -90.71308
Take-Out:
Riviera Resort & Campgrounds (formerly Black River Lodge Resort) boat landing off Riviera Avenue, Neillsville, Wisconsin
GPS: 44.48225, -90.66935
Time: Put in at 12:05p. Out at 3:45p.
Total Time: 3h 40m
Miles Paddled: 6.75
Wildlife:
Fish, Ducks and Turtles.
Background:
The Black River Falls area is brimming with an abundance of great paddling. Not just the Black itself or the East Fork but the contributor creeks that feed the main stem. This gives creek fans an abundance of options and paddling that ranges all levels, from flat to whitewater and all classes in-between.
There are four popular (using the term “popular” loosely here) creeks that feed the Black River; Halls, Morrison, Robinson and Wedges.
To compare and contrast the four is an interesting task and an obvious curiosity for the uninitiated. If we’re playing favorites, Halls is our winner. It’s the most dramatic with more whitewater drops and more amazing outcrops and scenery on an endless run from beginning to end, all in a canyon-like setting. From there, the lines blur a bit and ranking them is difficult because they’re all unique unto themselves.
Morrison has one exhilarating drop with many beautiful outcrops, just less of them than Halls and the last third of the trip’s surroundings eventually transform into a bottomlands paddle. Robinson is altogether different because it’s much more intimate and feels more like what one would expect of a traditional creek with low sandstone banks and riffles. And then there’s Wedges with few dramatic bluffs, but endless boulder and rock gardens and many small drops and riffles throughout.
Come to think of it, your best bet is to just plan on paddling them all at some point and draw your own conclusions.
Now, it should be noted that these were less-than-ideal water levels. We knew what we were getting into, having paddled Morrison the day before (and even that plan was ill-conceived with a leaky boat on a rocky-bottomed creek) so we knew we’d be in for even more scraping on this day.
You’ll have a more ideal run at higher levels than what our visual gauge indicates, located upstream of Middle Road bridge. If it’s at or below this, you’ll scrape throughout. Ideally, it’s barely there. Otherwise, you’ll indeed find yourself fittingly wedged throughout at water levels like these.
Back in 2000, Mr. Rick Kark, author of the West Central Wisconsin Rivers and Streams guide, paddled two sections of Wedges in one day because he enjoyed it so much. First, this section, Middle Road to the Black River and then an upstream section, Highway 10 to Middle Road. He found no whitewater on that upper stretch but he did say it was pretty and unobstructed. We, of course, love a little whitewater, so we chose Middle Road as our starting point.
Overview:
The put-in off Middle Road is OK, certainly not ideal but we’ve dealt with much worse. Late in the year, the weeds were up and with the water being so low, there was quite a height-differential from the edge of the bank to the boat, which makes for an awkward entrance. But aesthetically, it’s an inviting setting with a tressel that spans the creek just a few hundred feet from the put-in.
Almost immediately, you’ll be running the riffles just under the train trestle. And that’s just the beginning of what makes Wedges so fun, there’s always something to keep your interest. There’s countless riffles and little drops including a Class I (II in higher water) and the scenery is incredible. Granite outcrops, slabs and shards are scattered throughout a landscape of oak and pine trees. Chunky boulder gardens are plentiful and there’s an abundance of small sandstone walls. Add to that, the modest sand and gravel bars that tend to frame the curves and corners – it all makes for a very pretty trip.
The highlight is a back-and-forth Mouse Trap-style drop (ya know that game, kind of like a Rube Goldberg machine, where the marble must make its way through the game? Well, it’s just like the stair piece in that game). It’s a great little stair-step back-and-forth (and back-and-forth) run and a helluva lot of fun.
Wedges is generally narrow (narrower than Halls and Morrison but not as narrow as Robinson) and it feels wild and remote throughout (rather surprising we didn’t encounter more wildlife, come to think of it). In fact, there are no bridges or signs of development along this short stretch. The water is clear but with that root-beer tinge we’ve come to love and it alternates between a sandy and rocky bottom.
So we’ve established that these water levels were too low but there is certainly something to be said for too high of water levels on Wedges – and what they are, we can’t say for sure but there was evidence everywhere that this creek takes on a completely different complexion when the water gets high.
Honestly, it was hard to comprehend what it might look like but there were tell-tale signs of much, much higher water, potentially 10-feet higher than the surface we were currently paddling as evidenced by the grass and tree-swept banks laying down-river from whatever direction we were headed. Whether it was recent is despite the fact, it was certainly for a sustained period that these surroundings were under an extreme force of water. What this creek actually looks like in high water must be astonishing.
The variety of contours and scenery keeps up until you reach the Black River. And there, it’s decision time. You could easily take-out at the landing at the Black River Confluence and end this trip at 4.25 miles or you could consider extending the trip further down the Black. There’s upside and downside to this decision. The upside? Well, river-paddling parts of the Black is just like lake paddling and if it were terribly windy, it could make for a tedious trek to get to the good stuff. The downside, is that you’ll be missing the good stuff; some exhilarating whitewater (but of course, not everyone is looking for whitewater).
Us, we made this a Black-Wedge salad and continued further downstream to hit some highlights on this section of the Black River (well, after we patched Timothy’s boat for the umpteenth time that day – Wedges wasn’t kind to his boat). There is some open and flat water paddling but it’s all worth the extra time and effort for the rapids, boulder gardens and scenery that reside downstream.
After a sizable amount of flat water river paddling, you’ll come upon what appears to be a half-dam (maybe not even half, it spans maybe a quarter of the river). This is a lasting remnant of Dells dam which once spanned the river to help regulate water levels for the logging industry. In 1911, a historic flood destroyed the dam as well as homes and businesses in the area. It was never rebuilt and stands as an eerie reminder of that devastating event.
Now, the Black River is obviously much wider so the flat water sections are much flatter and slower. But… the rapids are much pushier and in turn, more fun. Some are class II (although on the lower-end during our low-water circumstance) and that’s what makes the extra straightaways worthwhile, for the elongated and consecutive sections of awesome whitewater are about to begin.
Soon after the dam, you’ll come upon the Highway 95 bridge. Here is where the fun whitewater begins at Red Granite Rapids. The rapids are fun, splashy and the run is lengthy with hundreds of feet of boulder gardens on a gradual dogleg right. As the river narrows, there are even more impressive boulder gardens to dodge and weave. After that, there’s a few more sections of easy whitewater with some nominal drops in an amazingly rugged setting of rocks. It’s a perplexing run – maybe the best kind – because A) it’s too pretty to not want to stop and take pictures but B) It’s too fun to want to stop and take pictures.
After all the fun dies down, you’ll find yourself doing some more flat water river paddling on the approach to Lake Arbutus. We took out at the boat landing at Riviera Resort & Campgrounds (formerly Black River Lodge Resort). It’s a private resort. They just ask that you check-in at the bar before launching (we didn’t – nobody was around – maybe because it was late in the vacation season). But I was really hoping to have a post-paddle Piña Colada at the tiki bar that overlooks the launch but alas, it was already closed for the season.
What we liked:
Finding yet another gem of a creek in Black River Falls.
What we didn’t like:
Low water – but that was basically our fault – we knew what we were getting ourselves into.
And then there was the issue of a cracked boat. This was our second day dealing with maintenance every couple miles to bail water or patch the bottom. Who takes a cracked boat on Morrison and Wedges creek at low water levels? These guys.
Lastly, while the Black is an excellent addition to the Wedges paddle, the flat water paddling on the river and then river/lake paddling while heading into Lake Arbitus is a lengthy stretch (but the excitement of Red Granite Rapids and the scenery outweigh the monotony).
Oh wait, the Tiki bar! Definitely bummed it was closed (after Cabo, I’m a sucker for Piña Coladas).
If we did this trip again:
Absolutely, but of course, only in higher water. And if you’re considering this trip, we definitely recommend doing the additional section of the Black River.
Halls, Morrison, Robinson and Wedges are all pretty spectacular and unique in their own way. If you have a 3-day weekend and you want the best cross-section of Black River creeks, hit Halls, Wedges and Robinson if the water is up. It’ll probably give you the best variety. If you have a whole week, check out our recommendations in our Morrison Creek write-up.
There’s so much to love, explore or revisit in Black River Falls that we don’t think there’s a better place in Central Wisconsin for creek paddling. And as far as Wedges is concerned, creeking fans will love this one.
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Related Information:
Wedges Creek II: County Road B to Rouse Road
Camp: Black River State Forest
Good People: Friends of the Black River
Miles Paddled Video:
Photo Gallery:
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