Flambeau River Conditions

North Fork -

As of July 1, the river is at the ordinary high water mark and paddling is good. The water level on the North Fork remains fairly constant throughout the summer as it is controlled by a series of dams. Mosquitoes and ticks are out in good numbers - don't forget the repellant.

South Fork -

As of July 1, the water level on the South Fork is getting low due to a recent lack of rainfall. Although the river is still canoeable, weeds are beginning to make paddling difficult in some places and you must scout a good path through the rocks. Fishing for catfish and small mouth bass has been excellent - don't forget your fishing pole.

Weather: WSAW Channel 7 Wausau; WAOW Channel 9 Wausau; WJFW Channel 12 Rhinelander ; National Weather Service Report for Price County

Paddler Comments:

Out group of 6 highschool friends decided to do a ten year reunion canoe trip on the Flambeau. We had a great time. We started at 9 mile and canoed to the dam. We camped for 2 nights and canoed for 3 days. We had planned to camp 3 nights, but decided to head for home when the forecast called for t-storms on friday night and saturday. We had a wonderful trip in the beautiful setting of the Flambeau River. One canoe managed to tip 6 times during the trip. Paddleflambeau.com provided us with a lot of useful info and connected us with Flambeau Adventures who was a great outfitter. Thanks for the great site! (6/30/08)

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Kayaked the North Fork 6/13/08 & 6/14/08 from Big Bear to Flambeau Lodge. Water level was about 12' above normal making for a great trip. Rapids were fast. Stopped at the island at Cedar Rapids. Can't wait for the next trip. (6/16/08)

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Canoed the river last summer... best canoe trip i have found in the state. I do a good amount of canoeing as a boy scout but this is by far my favorite river. Crystal clear, you can see everything... rocks on the bottom, fish swimming, etc. Many nice rapids... all in all a great trip!!! (6/12/08)

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We paddled the South Fork of the Flambeau River the weekend of May 31-June 1. This is an annual trip for our group and the water levels between Rocky Carry and Little Falls were the best we have had in over 15 years! We saw a newborn fawn on the river's edge and are sure that it's mother was not far away. (6/9/08)

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We kayaked the South Fork from Round Lake to Smith Rapids Sunday, 6/1/08.The conditions were great – A warm and sunny day.We had a peddle and paddle adventure.  We dropped our boats off by the Round Lake Logging dam then drove to Smith Rapids, the take out point for our day’s adventure.  Admired the Smith Rapids covered bridge, and then hopped on our mountain bikes for an easy 5.8 mile peddle back to our boats. The water level was good – Little Bull Dam and Riley Dam were great fun.  We stopped at a picnic table on the left side of the river just before Riley Dam for lunch.  The rest of our trip was calm water.  The only hazards were trees lying in the river.  We saw eagles, ducks, an otter and one canoe.Our paddle was 8.3 miles on a very winding course and took 3 ½ hours.We ended our paddle with a picnic at Smith Rapids Campground.  Packed up and drove back to Round Lake for our bikes. (The Crazy Loon, 6/1/08)

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Myself and seven other paddlers went out on the south fork this weekend, the water is actually low right now and there are lots of exposed rocks out there right now. We saw a wolf, and the next morning there were wolf tracks all over our camp. Fishing was OK. There sure was\'t as many people on the river. I've been shooting the south fork for the last 10 years on memorial day weekend and this was the fewest people yet. If your looking for whitewater the south fork is the way to go. Kayak or canoe, we were camped at Hervis landing thats where the wolf was. I love the Flambeau river its worth the drive for me to experience the south fork.(5/24/08)

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Paddled from T-F Flowage to Holts Landing. Easy water, beautiful, saw few people. Wonderful bird watching.(P.Brickner)

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Fished the South Fork down from Rocky Carrie last Friday 10-05-07 and the fishing was really bad. The river is in low flood stage and the habitat has been disturbed. The river running and the rapids are great though, but you'd better be an experienced paddler. (E. Hall, 10/10/07)

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Thursday July 5, 2007, North fork day trip, Oxbow to HWY W. This was my first time back since 2005. The river is so low it reminded me of the Wisconsin. Never have we ever got hung up so much on the bottom, the flow was slow as well and perhaps that contributed to my inability to pick out the deeper channels. But, it was just amazingly beautiful, as usual. We saw an Eagle, same one a few times, a single deer fawn and only 1 heron. There were these little pale/baby blue blooms that were quite striking. Worth it! Even with the portages through the shallows.(7/5/07)

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A wild and scenic section of the North Fork of the Flambeau, between Holt and Agenda landings. It will test your skills and thrill you, and the scenery is absolutely breathtaking. This section of the river is a corridor of the Flambeau State forest. You will not see any development between the two landings. You will feel like you are in Canada as you pass thru this section of the river. You will likely spot Eagles, Otters and other wildlife. (K. Ballak, Channahon, IL, 8/21/06)