St. Croix River Depth

Advice
#1

Anyone been paddling on the St. Croix River in WI lately? Wondering the water depth between Taylor Falls and Stillwater…Thanks! Also, has anyone paddled north of Taylor Falls and portaged? If so, what were the conditions?

#2

River depth

– Last Updated: Sep-16-06 6:12 PM EST –

You can find it here...
St. Croix - River Levels
http://www.nps.gov/sacn/planyourvisit/riverlevels.htm

Of course you need to know how the report conditions relate to suitability.

Today it's at 1290 cfs. I was there in August and it was 2100 cfs. The main chanel was good, but there were a lot of low spots. Back channels were 6-9 inches. Maybe after tomorrow I'll be able to give a report on the current levels, but then so will you.

Portage at Taylors Falls - never did it, but conditions north of the dam are generally good. If I'm going north of the dam, usually put in at Lion's Park.

#3

Oh well…
I didn’t get my 1290 cfs data point. The flow at Taylors Falls went to 2000 cfs over nite. I got there (Osceola) about 1:30 PM and it looked pretty much like it did a month ago when it was 2100 cfs. Checked it again and it’s now back to 1280 within a couple of hours.



It was very windy today. I think the weather reports said 20-25mph. It was blowing straight up the river. Strong enough that I could go upstream w/very little effort, didn’t even really have to paddle. So I decided to go downstream for a couple of miles. It was a lot of work. Coming back was easy though. There were a couple of stretches where it was only 6-8 inches deep in the main channel about 3/4 miles downstream from the bridge. Had to pole those.

#4

New report

– Last Updated: Oct-02-06 12:53 PM EST –

Flow at Taylors Falls was 1560 cfs yesterday (10/1). Went upstream of the bridge at Osceola. Adequate for the most part in the main channel up to the island about 3/4 miles north of the bridge. The back channel around the island was impassable just upstream of the entrance. Probably less than 1/4 mile. Boat was dragging bottom. Didn't feel like walking it. The mouth of the back channel had some low rocky areas as well.