Whitewater Run WI Class II-IV

A) Piers Gorge: Niagara to Hwy.8 (0.5-2.9 miles) *Fee Area*

Menominee

American Whitewater
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Gauge Conditions
Menominee River at Niagara, WI Upstream Primary
Runnable: 800.0 – 3,000.0 CFS

Normal 'usual' boatable range.

Data from American Whitewater & USGS
Run Map
Run Time Estimate
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Whitewater timing varies with scouting, portages, and group pace. Use as a planning baseline.
Description
In summer, 2012, the areas surrounding Piers Gorge, Quiver Falls, and Pemene Falls were incorporated into a State Recreation Area cooperatively operated by Michigan DNR and Wisconsin DNR. As a result, parking and access for each of these areas now requires either a daily or annual State Park sticker. Piers Gorge (final 0.5mi., skipping the shuttle and foregoing Sand Portage) is often done as a big-water, carry-up park-and-play. The gorge often stays open well into winter. (Please scout for any ice-shelves which may overhang critical eddies or areas of shoreline  where current may be likely to push you! Some years back, a local paddler who pushed the season had a near-death experience being stuffed into an ice-shelf, struggling to abandon boat and paddle, and did manage to free himself before having to attempt to breathe like a fish.) Click the following link to watch a video (with a mix of rear-of-the-kayak mounted camera and aerial photography via helicopter-drone) for a good feel for Piers Gorge proper: https://youtu.be/WbSfbn-dCpY
Difficulty
Class II-IV
Length
2.7 mi
Gradient
15 ft/mi
max 21
Rapids
4
Access Points
Put-in
45.7698, -87.9886
Take-out
45.7585, -87.9419
Shuttle Info
You have a few different options here: 1) Carry up: Misicot Falls is located within 0.5 mile of the parking lot, and Sand Portage Falls is a 1.5 mile carry from the parking lot. The trail from the parking lot to both of these places is wide and well worn, and a fairly easy carry (no grueling hills). 2) You can drive toward Niagara on US141. Not far north of the US 8/US141 junction, you will see a road side park. You can park here, change in the restrooms and follow trail on the other side of US141 to Sand Portage. This is an easy carry of about a quarter-mile. While it is not well marked, if you just head due-East along the edge of a woods, you will hit the river at Sand Portage. Note: This wayside may be closed (chained/gated). 3) Continue into Niagara, where there is a boat launch with changing rooms just a block to the right off the main highway. The rafters start here. This adds about a mile-and-a-quarter of very scenic, but totally flat/flowing water before Sand Portage. Shuttle as shown is for the full run. Use the input field below to get routing from any other location to the put-in. (You can use that info in concert with the shuttle info to get you directly to the take-out instead.)
Difficulty Classes
I Easy II Novice III Intermediate IV Advanced V Expert/Extreme VI Unrunnable
Current Conditions
5-Day Forecast
Whitewater data from
American Whitewater