Third day of the trip and it’s a beautiful morning. My face swelling from the yellowjacket sting is nearly gone now and I finally feel that sense of excitement that I’m free again to do whatever lies ahead. Took a look at the map and decided to try my luck visiting Wildman Adventure Resort in Athelstane, Wisconsin. There are several rapids and falls here but they are only accessible either via private property or if you raft/kayak down the river. Thankfully after leaving a voicemail I got a callback and was given permission to hike through the campground and to use my drone along the river (big shout out to Hayden, thank you so much!). It’s a monday morning and I’m the only person here since it’s the offseason so I won’t be disturbing anyone.
NOTICE: The only access is through private land. GET PERMISSION FIRST, DO NOT TRESPASS! I obtained permission by calling and asking nicely but respect their wishes if they tell you “no”. Be cool and keep this place accessible. Even better, click here and make a reservation! You could also access the rapids/falls by paddling via raft or kayak but is a much longer and possibly dangerous journey.
Boots On The Ground
As I mentioned I started by driving to Wildman Adventure Resort and calling the posted phone number. Everything is closed and I’m assuming it’s seasonal, but also it’s a Monday morning so not a prime destination during the week. Looks like a cool place even when it’s busy, I like the vibe and layout of the facilities.
The campground is fairly large and has both tent/car camping spots and some small cabins that frankly look amazing. Not pictured here: they also have larger cabins/houses and even some yurts. All sorts of cool things here.
Campsites are spread all across the grounds and some join right up against the Peshtigo River. The white noise from the rapids is probably the best way I can imagine to fall asleep. I might have to come back here someday…
And just a short walk along the river leads us to the first feature, Split Rapids. These are a pair of rapids that are split by a large wooded river island and these are on the west side of that island closest to the campground. I would consider this a waterfall myself (at least by standards of some other falls I’ve seen in Wisconsin) – you are free to make your own judgement.
New for today: I picked up a variable filter for my camera in order to try my hand at long exposures. This is a popular camera trick to make moving water appear silky smooth and blur the motion. Here’s the best exposure I could get at this location – it definitely shows I am a novice. Luckily practice makes perfect and later in the trip I got some pretty darn good shots so stay tuned for those.
Walking above Split Rapids and looking back downstream you can barely see the other half going around the island. You can definitely see how the water level drops drastically on the other side. I chose not to cross the river onto the island because a) I didn’t want to get kicked out for breaking any rules, and even more importantly b) the water is moving fast enough that this is a dicey prospect at best and foolishly dangerous at worst. Today we will stay dry.
Walking further upstream, there are basically class I or II rapids and rock gardens everywhere but not much to photograph. At the far northern boundary of the property are posted NO TRESPASSING signs. I do not advocate for trespassing so if you do visit this place and get permission you still need to respect these signs from neighboring land owners!
At the boundary you can just barely see some additional moving water upstream. Here is what I’d consider a fair representation of what you can see with your naked eye.
Here’s a slightly improved view thanks to my camera’s zoom lens. Mine only goes to 135mm which is far enough but of course you could see more with a larger lens if you want to. This feature is called Jerry Chute because…well, I don’t quite know but it looks like a chute.
Here’s one last look back downstream from the ground. Foliage colors are really starting to pop but still a few days off what I’d call prime. It’s an amazing spot to be today – perfect temps, no sounds other than moving water and my own thoughts. No place I’d rather be.
Eye In The Sky
One of the main reasons I bought a drone are for situations just like this: locations with near impossible access from the ground. Due to the islands and forest it’s tricky to maintain line-of-sight but you can do it by making multiple launches. [UAV Info & Disclaimer – follow the rules!] First stop is Split Rapids (eastern half) which is sometimes also called S-Curve Rapids and rated class II/III. I don’t know what the official USGS river levels are but it seems low which is typical late season. Today they look more like multi-shelf falls than rapids. It’s difficult to estimate overall drop but I’d guess somewhere in the 5-10 foot range.
Moving upstream the next stop is at Jerry Chute Rapids that we saw earlier. You can really get a better sense for this one from the sky. The river zig-zags and narrows rapidly to form the class III/IV chute at the end. Interestingly, as of August 2022 the land on the west side of the river here is owned by Marinette County but you can’t reach it due to other borders locking it between private property and the river.
Just upstream from Jerry Chute is a multi-tier drop known as Horserace Rapids. This class III/IV section is extremely turbulent and drops more than it looks, likely another 5-10 feet. This is a very popular but tricky stretch of water for recreational rafters/boaters and considered a prime destination on the Peshtigo.
Immediately upstream and around a 90-degree bend is Five Foot Falls (also known as Roaring Rapids), a class III rapids or falls depending on the water levels. It does seem to drop about 5 feet and is the full width of the river. There is zero chance to see this from the ground unless you get permission from other private land owners or traverse it in a boat.
Here is a wider overhead view. Notice there are some additional rapids upstream – this is called Third Drop Rapids as referenced from several paddling websites (this one gives some great details) and is also rated class III. This is as far as I can go with the drone due to line-of-sight regulations, and I’m only able to get this far thanks to my particular device’s optical zoom feature. There are still other large features much further upstream but at present there is zero access without paddling.
One last look of the river as I returned to the home point. You can more easily see the stage of color changes in this shot – again, probably a few days to a week before the peak. I have a few weeks of travel so maybe I timed it correctly for a change? It’s a promising start to say the least!
Video
Here’s a short video of the rapids and falls in this area. Admittedly it isn’t perfect but it might be the best representation you will currently find on the internet.
Lat = 45.4008217 , Long = -88.3141022 -- Show at Google Maps