Hazard Warning: Hazard information may be user-submitted and unverified. Conditions change frequently. Always scout rapids and obstacles yourself.
Hazard WI

Waterford Dam (Main, Right Channel)

Fox (Illinois R. trib.) - B) Waterford/Rochester/Burlington (PnP) (WI)

Gauge Conditions
Runnable: ? – ? CFS

Approximate - nearest available gauge. Use as general reference only.

Photo
Waterford Dam (Main, Right Channel)
Photo courtesy of American Whitewater
Description

The main dam has two releasable lift-gates. Water sheets horizontally across the cement slab of the dam, then pours off that slab into the pool. Air pockets form behind the flow (creating a lighter root-beer-colored effect) before it meets the pool below. This 'curtain' of water pouring into such a chaotic 'hole' in the pool would make for extreme likelihood of flipping. The entire pool is filled with large rocks which will be just below the surface at virtually all flows, meaning all experience-levels of boaters should never consider playing the outflow from this dam. While the wave/hole might (at some flows) look like it could be surfable/playable, any flips would almost certainly result in bodily impact with rock.

Canoeists and recreational kayakers often put-in below this rocky area to paddle the 'pond' between Waterford and Rochester, and (posiibly) to paddle an 'up-and-back' on the Wind Lake Canal which enters the (Illinois) Fox just upstream of Main Street, about a half-mile upstream of the dam in Case-Eagle Park/Rochester.
Location
Type
Hazard
Difficulty
Class N/A
Mile Marker
-2.3 mi
Directions
View Full Run
B) Waterford/Rochester/Burlington (PnP)
Fox (Illinois R. trib.)
I(II) 0.5 mi
Hazard — Exercise extreme caution in this area.
Current Conditions
5-Day Forecast
Whitewater data from
American Whitewater