Paddling the Chippewa River
This wide, scenic river flows through a rural countryside of mixed hardwood forests, meadows, dairy farms, and agricultural communities. Birch, oak, maple, basswood, aspen, and conifers often canopy the shoreline. The river is popular for its excellent fishing. Anglers will find Musky, Northern Pike, Walleye, Smallmouth Bass, and a variety of Pan Fish.
The majority of the 48 mile reach from the Arpin Dam outside Radisson, to the Flambeau River confluence, features mostly calm water. The most challenging whitewater occurs in two places; at Bellile Falls Rapids, a long class 3+ located just below Arpin Dam (C1), and in Segment C2 below the Highway D bridge. The latter features numerous pitches of riffles and class 1 rapids over a nine-mile section. The remaining 36 miles are mostly flatwater with occasional riffles and low hazard rapids.
The river is the centerpiece of the Upper Chippewa River Basin. The Flambeau, Jump, Elk, Thornapple, and Couderay Rivers all feed into the Chippewa, draining an area roughly the size of Connecticut, more than 4,600 square miles.
The Chippewa River has a rich logging history The entire basin was logged from the 1850's to about 1906. The river provided a waterway to float cut timber from northern Wisconsin to the Mississippi River.
Camping
The nearby Flambeau River State Forest has two family campgrounds. Connors Lake (29 sites) is an excellent family campground that is open from the late May through early September. Lake of the Pines (30 sites) sits on a wooded hill next to a scenic lake and is open from mid-April to December. Both are rustic, non-electric campgrounds and every campsite in both are reservable.
Brunet Island State Park is on an island in the Cornell Flowage of the Chippewa River just outside of Cornell Wisconsin. The park is about a 25-minute drive from the landing at Flaters Resort. There are two campgrounds with a total of 69 reservable sites and many are on the shoreline of the Flowage.
The scenic Black Lake Campground, in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, is about 26 miles driving distance northeast of Radisson. The campground has 29 non-electric campsites. Many are lakeside and all are reservable.
Season
The river is usually runnable from early spring through late fall. Novice canoers and kayakers need to exercise extra caution when waters levels are high. High flows generally occur in early May, after periods of heavy rainfall, and when the Arpin Dam has a release. This is an excellent river to paddle in late summer and fall when many other rivers are experiencing low water volume. Contact the Wisconsin DNR office in Ladysmith (715.532.3911) for water levels before paddling the river.