Prairie River

Author:

Corbin

Date:

July 5th, 2014

Put-in:

Heineman Road

Take-out:

Prairie Road Public Access

Distance:

5.5 miles

Time:

Over 4 hours (with lunch break)

Gradient:

18' per mile (roughly)

Water Level:

Prairie River near Merrill 2.33' or 133 CFS

We did the Prairie River from Heineman Rd. to the public access at the end of Prairie Road. This stretch is only a few miles northeast of Merrill, in north central Wisconsin. The Prairie River proved to be a typical northern Wisconsin small river, with cool, clean, root beer-colored water that moved along at a moderate clip. The highlight of the trip was a long stretch of rapids through scenic, rocky dells, for which the river is known.

The route was largely forested, with grass and overhanging shrubs dominating the shore. The bottom started off as gravel and mud, then gave way to rocks as it approached the rapids. Although the water wasn’t that low, there were lots of submerged rocks that we kept hitting. There were no fallen trees to negotiate, which was nice.

There were numerous beds of different water plants. Insects were abundant. Damselflies, dragonflies, and midges made up the majority of them. Although we did see five or six private homes/cabins scattered along the route, this stretch is largely undeveloped. It took us a little over 4 hours to cover approximately 5.5 miles, although we did stop for a half hour to eat lunch. We took it pretty slow. This would certainly be a quicker run in high water.

Details:

The put-in location by Heineman Rd. consists of a steep, grassy bank next to the bridge leading down to a muddy shore. We just parked next to the bridge–it wasn’t too difficult. The first one-quarter of the route had no obstacles and was easygoing. Shortly after Prairie Dell Pond (which exists on the map only), the rapids began and continued off and on until about the halfway point. Boulders started to pop up here and the river got shallower, causing us to scrape bottom frequently. This is a long stretch of rapids that doesn’t give you time to recover from any mishaps–mostly class 1, with some class 2s, but some of these were pretty rough. A couple of times, I wasn’t confident I was going to emerge right side up!

The shoreline is much steeper along this section and is also more wooded. There are a couple of nice rock formations here, as well as a rocky bluff with an observation platform on top. The second half of the river was more level, with a number of riffles, but no noteworthy rapids. Our kayaks scraped rocks numerous times on this segment. The take-out was a little hard to find. It consisted of a muddy trail through the shrubs up to a small gravel parking area. My GPS was very helpful here.

Miscellaneous considerations:

At the midway point of our trip is Prairie Dell County Park. It consists of a wooden lookout platform overlooking the Prairie River. The view is nice, but not a must-see, as much of the river is obscured by trees. The park can be accessed by car via a short drive off Hwy 17.

For those of you who do bike shuttles, it is not a short ride, but is mostly paved and not too hilly.

Although not dangerous at the water levels we did it, whitewater experience is definitely recommended for this one. If you don’t use a skirt, you will take on water in the rapids.

For a shorter trip, or if you were just interested in the rapids, you could put in at the old Hwy. 17 bridge by Prairie Dell Pond and take out on Shady Lane Ave. (which dead-ends near the river).

Final thoughts:

Although a nice river, constantly hitting rocks was annoying. I would only do it again if the water was higher and I was looking for some excitement. I would also do a shorter section.

Webmaster’s Addendum

Thanks, Corbin, for the review! It should be noted that Corbin has also run the Little Wolf and felt the Prairie River was actually rougher. Again, the Prairie is a river not to be taken lightly. The Prairie Dell Pond that “exists on the map only” did exist prior to the 90s when the DNR, to improve trout habitat, removed a large dam that backed up the river. At one time, four separate dams slowed the Prairie on its way to the Wisconsin River. None remain. If you are interested in learning more about the Prairie River, here are some additional resources:

American Whitewater (review intended for hardcore whitewater paddlers)
Paddling Northern Wisconsin: 85 Great Trips by Canoe and Kayak

Prairie River Overview:

Click here to see an overview map of the Prairie River.

Upstream from Hanson Road Access: The river here is too narrow to paddle.
Hanson Road to R and H Road Walk-In Access: 1.9 miles. I don’t know much about this leg, but satellite images suggest it’s relatively open and might be pleasant.
R and H Road Walk-In Access to Hackbarths Drive: 1.0 miles. Narrow stretch with maybe a logjam or two.
Hackbarths Drive to County Road CCC: 4.5 miles. Reviewed by paddling author Frank Piraino.
- Hackbarths Drive to Hwy 17 Walk-In Access: 1.1 miles. Wooded stretch with a few possible congested spots.
- Hwy 17 Walk-In Access to Bridge Drive: 2.6 miles. Another wooded section. Figure a handful of light rapids and maybe one logjam.
- Bridge Drive to County Road CCC: 0.8 miles. Rocky with hazardous Class 2-3 rapids which requires a difficult 600′ portage through thick woods. There are also several bad logjams and a dangerous low bridge. This stretch though is scenic. Here is a 360 picture.
County Road CCC to Prairie Forks Drive: 6.2 miles.
- County Road CCC to Bachelors Lane: 2.9 miles. Great leg with scenic pine trees and in the fall attractive color. Highlights include a few small boulder gardens. There is a minor logjam that isn’t difficult to get past.
- Bachelors Lane to Town Hall Road: 2.3 miles. Not as good of a leg with scrubbier trees and six logjams. Most of the portages weren’t difficult, but two were tricky.
- Town Hall Road to Prairie Forks Drive: 0.9 miles. Nice stretch that is a bit more open. Highlights include no logjams and a few nice, small boulder gardens.
Prairie Forks Drive to Axen Road: 0.8 miles. River meanders through scrubby woods with maybe two logjams.
Axen Road to County Road J: 1.7 miles. River doubles from the North Branch. I suspect this is a mediocre stretch.
County Road J to Heineman Road: 1.7 miles. Mix of pine and hardwoods with alders. Starts slow, but picks up speed. No major rapids.
Heineman Road to Prairie Road Access: 5.6 miles.
- Heineman Road to Hay Meadow County Park: 1.5 miles. Easygoing with no obstacles.
- Hay Meadow County Park to Shady Lane Ave: 2.5 miles. Scenic section with boulder gardens, outcrops and dells. Includes some Class 2/3 rapids.
- Shady Lane Ave to Prairie Road Access: 1.6 miles. Likely minor rapids and boulder gardens during low water.
Prairie Road Access to Cty C: 2.9 miles. A handful of large islands. Maybe some minor rapids. Could be a few logjams on some of the island channels.
Cty C to Prairie Trails Park: 7.4 miles. Likely a pleasant wooded paddle.
Prairie Trails Park to Strange’s Park: 1.9 miles. A wooded section through downtown Merrill.
Strange’s Park to Mouth: 1.1 miles. Final stretch of the river. There isn’t really a great access on the Wisconsin River upstream of the Merrill Dam. You might have to do a 1000′ portage to reach better access points east of the dam.

Trip Map

View Prairie River in a larger map

Overview Map

Video

Photos
Size:

Emerald Jewelwing

Clubtail dragonfly

Huge fishing spider!

I can't believe nobody will pick up a poor hitchhiker. I guess I will just sulk in the woods...

3 Comments to “Prairie River”

Aaron from Dell Creek says:

July 8, 2021 at 7:16 pm

A guest video for this stretch was just submitted by Corbin. You can view this at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKsJuEo9Ar4&ab_channel=WisconsinRiverTrips

Reply
Denny Caneff from Yahara River says:

May 11, 2025 at 9:59 am

This run is way more fun than this entry suggests. Water level is key — I did the same run (but took out at County Rd. C, a worthwhile extension of the trip) on May 10, 2025 and the USGS gage (which you can see at the take-out) read 230 cfs — an almost perfect level to avoid a lot of scraping but also to not get overwhelmed in the Dells. Don’t go if it’s under 200, IMO.

Make your decision about running the Class I-II dells before you get on the river: they’re very hard to scout from the bank and portaging them would be nigh impossible.

Continue past the Prairie Rd. take-out for an extra mile or so of some fun riffles and braided channels that keep you engaged.

Reply
1. Aaron from Dell Creek says:
  
  May 11, 2025 at 10:02 am
  
  Thanks as always for the feedback Denny. I plan to do the Prairie River this summer and hope to provide more detail later.
  
  Reply