9/15/2023 0 Comments Frontier ag turtle lake![]() ![]() The final leg of Turtle Creek offers the least secluded section of the stream anywhere, but it’s probably the most fun too. At 300 cfs the creek really swings – but remains safe for any level of paddler. Paddle this at 200+ cfs to avoid scraping. Accesses are excellent, and there’s even a bar with a back patio facing the water on the opposite bank of the take-out. Here, you’ll first come upon the Little Turtle Creek on your left (paddleable up to a point), attractive but camouflaged rock outcroppings on both banks, a handful of hollows and raised banks, an old truss bridge in a country setting, a gorgeous and historical limestone arch railroad bridge, many pleasant riffles, one easy rapid and a gazillion great blue herons all along the way. ![]() Whereas the previous trip has a uniform feel of pretty paddling and surroundings, this trip – also pretty but more developed in the mid-section – feels like a familiar road trip with known landmarks along the way. Another plus? The bridges between School Section and O’Riley roads come at uncannily even 2-mile marks and each has access to the water, so you can shorten – or add to – this trip as much as you’d like. This trip doesn’t have a whole lot of drama but it’s really pretty, sweet and tranquil. But for one very brief area below Creek Road, there should be no taxing obstructions to encounter. The current is gentle, even when the water is high. The rest is just open natural space, not even many farms (a rarity in this part of the state). In fact, most of the signs of civilization are simply bridges. You’ll see very few buildings in this stretch. For one, virtually all of this 8-mile segment lies along public land, the pretty Turtle Creek Wildlife Area. Do it if you’re curiously curious, otherwise, you won’t be missing much by skipping this. And while ordinarily we’re none to shy away from minimal inconvenience for maximum reward, here there’s very little reward. What about putting-in below the dam? Sure, in theory, but in reality there’s no way to do so without schlepping your gear a long distance through brush and marsh. Trouble here is there’s no practical place to do so. In high water (300 cfs) it’s runnable, but it’s typically a smart rule of thumb to leave these beasts be and portage around them. Access from the lake to the creek is ambiguous and there’s a dodgy low-head dam within the first half-mile that awaits. It seems entirely pointless even if it is doable, about which we’re uncertain in the first place. For 7-ish miles… and then you’re paddling a lake. It’s been subjugated by agriculture, its streambed artificially channelized (is “lobotomized” too strong a word?). We haven’t paddled this section and frankly, we’d only attempt it if we lost a bet or if someone paid us. See below for the specifics, but you essentially have your choice of lush public land and flatwater riffles, a few rocks and the prettiest bridge you may have never yet seen or urban escapade in moving water with some rapids. These three sections couldn’t be more different from one another, which makes the Turtle even more notable. ![]() Out of Comus Lake it behaves like a creek again but there are some undesirable aspects until School Section Road.įor those reasons we really only recommend the three sections from School Section Road to Dickop Street, about 50 yards upstream of the confluence at Rock River. From its source, the creek is entirely channelized for 8 miles and change to Comus Lake. It flows out of Turtle Lake, south of Whitewater and close to the very attractive Ice Age Trail segments in the Kettle Moraine South (close to, but no cigar). Why it’s called a creek and not a river is anybody’s guess. Even in its upstream sections in Delavan it ranges between 50-100’ wide. It’s not terribly long (only 44 miles, one-third of which we recommend skipping altogether) and it’s often on the shallow side – the Beloit section in particular – but there’s still a variety of environments it passes through, each with its own trip experience.įirst off, even though it’s called a creek, it looks and feels like a river. Popular with locals but for some reason mostly unknown to outsiders (which is probably just fine by the locals), there’s a lot to love about this pretty stream. Turtle Creek is a real gem in southern Wisconsin. ![]()
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