Yellowstone River

The Yellowstone River is an obscure tributary to the Pecatonica River located halfway between Madison and Platteville.  I don’t think many if any paddle it with the exception of Yellowstone Lake State Park (which is ~4 miles of impounded river). 

Kayaking options on the river are a bit limited.  Upstream of the lake, the river is small and might suffer from logjams.  The lake itself is of course viable for paddling, but is a bit boring and suffers from fast motorboats.  Closer to the mouth, logjams are a plague.  This leaves the best prospect (per my map research) as being the middle stretch from the dam to Hwy N, which is what I chose.

I launched below the dam, which while mostly just a glorified fishing access, was a nice put-in.  A large bluff overshadows the first quarter mile of the river.  At its base are runty sandstone outcrops including a small alcove/cave that you can poke your boat partly into.  The most impressive geology is actually upstream of the dam.  Here a Kickapoo style sandstone cliff borders the dam and is quite scenic.  Sadly the dam submerges much of its bulk.  Here is an old picture of the lake during a partial draw-down where you can see how much more impressive the cliff used to be.  In fact based on depth charts, I suspect there used to be a number of nice pre-dam riverside cliffs along the south bank. 

After the long bluff, I paddled past S. Lake Rd.  Technically this is still part of the state park, and a nice public parking lot sits adjacent to the bridge which would make for a decent kayak access.

Following the bridge, the river really opens up and loses the few bankside trees it had.  For the next two miles, the river was flanked by huge cornfields and large mud banks.   Topsoil erosion is a serious problem and it causes the river to meander aggressively.  In many ways the river and the mud banks reminded me of the nearby Pecatonica River, although not as bad.

In some ways the trip was a bit repetitive.  Often it was one tight turn after another past tall, muddy, and grassy banks.  That may sound awful, but the river actually had a nice open vibe to it with decent vistas of the distant bluffs and farms.

There were a few farm bridges to paddle under, but all but one were easy to duck under.  The first was tricky in that the bridge was quite low AND there were small rapids flowing under (bad combo).  I ducked under ok, but alternatively this would have been an easy portage.

The second half of the trip switched from cornfields to pasture.  Cows are much more destructive to rivers than corn, and here the erosion was at its worst.  On the plus side, the erosion was so bad, the bank height was reduced (likely flushed downstream to plague the Pecatonica).

The last half mile of the trip flowed through some light woods.  While the previous legs were fairly obstacle free, I finally encountered some major downed logs.  I was able to duck/hop past each (about 3), but had I wanted these would have been easy portages (the banks weren’t very high here).

In summary this was a pleasant, but not elite trip.  It was just a bit muddy and repetitive…but still wasn’t bad and I actually much preferred it over the Lower Pecatonica River or the Lower East Branch.  In fact, it would have gotten three stars had it not been for the few logjams at the end of the trip.

Noteworthy Wildlife:

Sights included a groundhog, cranes, some clams, and lots of geese.  The highlight was seeing a large fish get swept over the Yellowstone Lake dam.

Yellowstone Lake Park:

If you were to rank all the state parks in the state, honestly this might come up near or at the bottom.  Its “highlight” is a large lake (impounded Yellowstone River), but it’s not super interesting with generic wooded banks and a plague of noisy motorboats.  Yellowstone Lake State Park hasn’t yet figured out that no-wake restrictions are key to a nice quiet park environment (like say Mirror Lake or Devil’s Lake).  The park however does have a nice network of wooded trails, but those seriously interested in hiking would likely prefer Governor Dodge State Park’s superior trail network.  I like the idea of investing in state parks in Southwest Wisconsin (which is currently under-served), but IMO the state should have instead focused on making the Grant River area, Little Platte area, or Snow Bottom area into state parks instead.

Put-in:

Yellowstone Lake Dam:  Below the dam there is a public parking lot, outhouses, and riverside benches.  This is part of the state park and fishermen often fish here.  This is a pretty good access, but a lot of shady characters hang out here, so if you do a bike shuttle make sure your gear is well locked up.

Alternate Put-ins:

  • S. Lake Rd (0.2 miles downstream from the dam):   This is a good bridge access and has a nice state park parking lot.  This has the advantage of privacy over the dam (nobody uses this spot).  The downside of launching here (as opposed to the dam), is you would miss a nice mini-leg of the river.

Take-out:

Hwy N:  This was a good bridge access.  An adequate take-out bank and shoulder parking is available along the northwest corner.

Alternate Take-outs:

  • Gunderson Rd (1.6 miles downstream from Hwy N):    I doubt most paddlers will take out at Gunderson.  After N, the river becomes more wooded and congested, with perhaps 4 serious logjams.

Shuttle Information:

Hwy N to Yellowstone Lake Dam:  2.9 miles with 46′ of ascent.  This was a relatively easy bike shuttle with only a few small hills.  You could shorten the shuttle to 2.3 miles by simply launching at S. Lake Rd.  What stood out from my shuttling memories though was how cold it was (bike shuttles are always colder than kayak trips), and Amish children doing roofing work (so much for child labor laws).

Hazards, Logjams and Current:

Logjams:  Aside from a few minor low branches, the first four miles were remarkably open. The last half mile of the trip however was more wooded with roughly three logjams.  I was able to squeak past all without portaging, but had I wanted to, portaging would not have been too difficult.

Current:  Medium current to start, but the river quickly slows to a crawl for the rest of the trip.

Rapids:  The only rapids (Class 1) are located under the first farm bridge.  The trick is it’s quite low, so ducking the bridge AND riding out the rapids can be tough.  This would be an easy portage if you preferred.

Fences:  No fences to worry about despite the river flowing through some pasture.

River Depth and Navigability:

Trip Depth:  175 CFS or 4.97′ per the Pecatonica River EB @ Blanchardville gauge (Note the following are just rough guestimates)

  • 0-100 CFS:  Relatively low depth.  Kayakers might run aground in a few spots, but I suspect it’s still navigable.
  • 101-150 CFS:  Low depth.  Should be plenty navigable.
  • 151-200 CFS:  Average depth.
  • 201-250 CFS:  High depth.  Should be navigable.
  • 251-300 CFS:  Very high depth.  Should be navigable, but water quality may be really bad.
  • 301+:  Likely near flood conditions.

Yellowstone River Overview:

  • County Line Rd to Grant Rd (1st bridge):  1.6 miles.  Mostly open, small, and riffly.  Likely 2-3 outcrops.  An intriguing high water prospect.
  • Grant Rd (1st bridge) to Grant Rd (2nd bridge):  0.4 miles.  Short open stretch.  Maybe 1 outcrop.
  • Grant Rd (2nd bridge) to Hwy F:  3.4 miles.  Maybe 6 logjams, but shows potential with several possible impressive outcrops including those at the junction of Canyon Creek.
  • Hwy F to Yellowstone Lake West Access:  1.4 miles.  Now technically within the state park, this should be an open and navigable stretch.
  • Yellowstone Lake West Access to Yellowstone Lake Dam:  ~2 miles.  A large impounded lake used by state park visitors.  Motorboat traffic can be common in the summer.  Several alternate access points along the north shore.
  • Yellowstone Lake Dam to Hwy N:  5.1 miles.  
    • Yellowstone Lake Dam to S. Lake Rd:  0.2 miles.  Nice stretch with a long bluff along the north shore.  Included are several small runty sandstone outcrops and a small alcove/cave.
    • S. Lake Rd to Hwy N:  4.9 miles.  An open stretch with twisty mud banks.  Pleasant stretch with several logjams near the end (flexible paddlers can get past these without portaging).
  • Hwy N to Gunderson Rd:  1.6 miles.  Maybe 4 logjams.
  • Gunderson Rd to Old Q Rd:  3.7 miles.  Maybe 12 logjams.
  • Old Q Rd to Mouth on Pecatonica River East Branch:  1.2 miles.  Maybe 3 logjams.

Trip Reports

Overview Map

Detailed Overview

Comments

Feb 16th, 2022 - Ian from Kinnickinnic
I didn't realize it was the farmer's job to make sure the trip was up to your standards. He/she doesn't owe you anything and the more you people bitch and moan to them is the reason certain other boaters don't respect you and the "high-horse" attitudes. SMH
Sep 14th, 2020 - Aaron from Dell Creek
Thanks Matthew for the update. It sounds like the Darlington gauge is just too far downstream :( Otherwhise, yeah it is a really cool river.
Sep 14th, 2020 - Matthew M from Black Earth Creek
Thanks for the review/guide. Completed this on 9-13-20. It had rained the previous day but we still bottomed out in some of the rapids upriver of Livingston Branch. The PECATONICA RIVER AT DARLINGTON Gauge was over 600 CFS but it didn't seem to correlate to the upstream portion being deeper. Very pretty river. The rapids at this level were fun and still in the class 1 range. Finally we ran into two down'ed trees/logjams that we had to portage over - not too bad.
Sep 5th, 2020 - Aaron from Dell Creek
That's too bad to hear :( Thanks Jason for the update.
Sep 5th, 2020 - Jason from Nine Springs Creek
We thought we'd try the Pecatonica from Calamine to Darlington. River at 220 cfs. We assumed it would likely be free of obstruction from the work to clear the river for the annual canoe race. About 0.5 miles from put-in, we came across an impressive obstruction of large trees from both sides, crossing the entire river. Steep river banks made portaging challenging. Not sure if was passable (high risk of getting caught up in a strainer while zig-zagging thru) but we assumed the canoe race had been cancelled this year due to COVID (which I later confirmed it had been) and that there might be additional major barriers if no clean up had occurred since 2019. Thus, we called it a day and worked back to the put-in sight.
Jul 16th, 2019 - Aaron from Dell Creek
I've been curious about the logjams on this and the previous stretch, and appreciate the info. A reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal did the downstream leg one year ago and had a miserable experience for contrast: https://www.jsonline.com/story/travel/wisconsin/2018/05/24/kayaking-pecatonica-river-through-darlington/635032002/
Jul 16th, 2019 - Eric G from Wingra Creek
I did this trip today 7/16/19 The river was at about 320 CFS and 4.2 ft..a bit below optimal but totally doable. I put in about at the bridge a mile north on Hwy O near the intersection with Rock Rd. There were enough rocks directly under the bridge that I was able to get in without geting muddy. I chose that as a put in because I was doing a bike shuttle and the Cheese County trail meets Hwy O just 100 yds north of the bridge and runs straight to the take out at Calamine. The trail is not paved, but it is level and was in pretty good shape, but does get a lot of use by ATV's. There were only 2 major log jams, one just north of the Mineral Point branch come in and one where you have the first one marked, there were a couple of other small jams but nothing that required portaging or getting out of the boat, just had to push ,pull, slide, or duck under. A few good rock formations but too much foliage to see them all, but still a nice way to spend a 90 degree day
Jun 25th, 2019 - Aaron from Dell Creek
Funny you should mention this stretch...I was going to paddle that very section on Saturday before I changed my mind last moment. IT's nice to hear this was enjoyable but tough to hear about those logjams. I'll update my overviews to reflect your update.
Jun 24th, 2019 - Martin from Waupaca River
I paddled with a group of 27 on the Pecatonica River on June 22, 2019. The Darlington River gauge was at 360 CFS, which I agree is at a marginal water level. We looked at the Hwy G crossing, but because of all the Wild Parsnip and the width of the River elected to put in at CTH E in Mifflin. Our take out was at CTH A, river left, which was reasonable. Ample parking along the wide shoulders of the road. The actual distance is 5.2 mile. This trip took us 3.5 hours. Water clarity was murky for our trip. We encountered 1 barb wire fence which we held down, thus allowing the others to paddle over. 1 very shallow rocky bottom which we dredge via tossing a few rocks out of the way which allowed the rest of the group to pass thru a little easier. The last mile of the trip presented several challenges. 1 logjam at which 2 of us, on standing on top of the tree, hoisted kayak and paddlers over as there was not an option to portage. Another logjam that we cleared river left to allow portaging the shore line and river right to allow a limbo spot. We also made an opening in a couple other deadfalls to allow passage. We had one very low limbo spot along the way. We took out on river left right at the CTH A bridge. The road shoulders allowed for ample and unobstructed parking. I would imagine that this trip could easily be done in 2.5 to 3 hours. Otherwise a very enjoyable trip, with riffles, chutes, twisting corners and scenery.

How did your trip turn out? Questions or comments? Feel free to leave your feedback.

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