This was a Saturday, and we really don’t enjoy the upper section of the Kickapoo with the raucous weekend boaters. We sought out a lower section, not as popular which is fine with us. This trip is a section of Kickapoo River 5 in Paddling Southern Wisconsin.
Flow at Kickapoo River Steuben gauge 05410490: 425 cfs (median ~450 cfs)
Put-in/take-out: Highway 60 landing about 300 feet west of Highway 131. This has a concrete ramp and a nice parking lot. No bathrooms.
The trip: We left Madison at 12:30 and were on the water at 2:45, turned around at 5:00, out at 6:00. M recalls the upstream paddle as difficult and tiring (as evidenced by 2 hr 15 min upstream, 1 hr downstream)
Wildlife: kingfisher, plover, goldfinch, cardinal, muskrat, frogs
We scouted out other landings after the paddle. Another landing on Highway 60 about 1 mile before the Wisconsin River looks good. Plum Creek Canoe Landing on Plum Creek Road was washed out when we were there.