Fox River, Princeton to Lock Rd

Setting: Sunny weekday afternoon temp in the 70’s. We had never paddled the whole section, and we wanted to get out there before the expected motorboat madness of July 4 weekend.

Water level at Berlin: 1180 cfs. Median for July 2 is ~850. There is also a gage at Princeton, which does seem to pretty much follow the Berlin gage. Paddling Southern Wisconsin books suggests the Berlin gage.

Put in: 3:45 pm at the excellent concrete boat ramp in Princeton at the park at the end of Jefferson St. There is adequate parking and a porta-potty.

Shuttle: 5 mi, 15 min. East on Jefferson St, south(right) on Mechanic St, east(left) on Main St/Hwy 23/73, north (left) at the Piggly Wiggly onto Hwy 3, which is or becomes County Rd J.  Continue straight north on Huckleberry Rd at the somewhat scary intersection where J turns east. After about 2.5 mi on Huckleberry Rd, Lock Rd is a left turn at the brown DNR sign for the White River/Fox River Fishery Area.  The large parking lot is at the end of Lock Rd.

The Paddle:  Gentle current and mostly isolated wooded surroundings. We passed the St Marie Rd put-in/take-out on the left which we had used for a no-shuttle paddle last year. We paddled a short distance into a creek (Black Creek?) which entered from the left about 3 mi from the put in . Some day, with water levels no lower, it might be fun to see how far we could paddle upstream into the creek.

Take out: 5:50 pm at the excellent concrete ramp at the old White River lock and dam site.

Wildlife: heron, swallows, many kingfishers and flycatchers.

Length: 6 miles

Fox River – Princeton to Lock Rd

This trip is a segment of Fox River 2 in Paddling Southern Wisconsin
D,M & P with shuttle.
Flow at Berlin gauge 04073500: 1180 cfs (median for this day 850 cfs)

Put in Princeton city park at 3:45. Concrete ramp, plenty of parking, porta-john.
Take out Lock Road at White River Lock and Dam site. There is no dam to portage here-Paddling Southern Wisconsin is apparently wrong about this. The take out has a concrete ramp and a dock. Plenty of parking, no bathrooms.

The trip: 6-miles, about 2 hours, easy paddle, mostly wild quiet surroundings, no grounding or blockages or riffles/rapids.

Wildlife: kingfishers, flycatchers, swallows, heron.

Fox River in/out County Highway O Bridge

Flow at Berlin gauge 04073500: 1610 cfs (median approx 960 cfs)

Put in/take out: County Highway O bridge. OK landing. Room to park several cars. No bathrooms.

The trip: We stopped at a nearby nursery on the way and put in at approx 5 pm. Paddled downstream for approximately 3.5 miles. Turned around at house on downstream left bank. Took out approximately 8 PM. Pleasant day, not too warm or windy. Water level OK.

Wildlife: a few cranes.