Nature Current BIG Canoe Participating on Fox – Wisconsin Heritage Parkway Paddles

The Fox-Wisconsin Heritage Parkway and the North East Wisconsin Paddlers are proud to bring you the 2013 Fox-Wisconsin Heritage Paddles. This annual paddling series is designed to celebrate and explore the Parkway region.

This year our Nature Current Voyageur canoe will be joining the paddlers starting on June 22nd in Princeton and all the rest of the paddles in the series through the Sept. 28th Appleton Locks Paddle.  If you would like a ride with us on one of the these Heritage Paddles please get in touch with Mark at Nature Current. 

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Upper Fox River

June 22-23: Upper Fox Paddles
22 – Princeton to Berlin
Camp at Berlin’s Riverside Park
23 – Winneconne to Terrell Island to Rainbow Park in Oshkosh
Meet & shuttle: 9:30-10:30 AM; Launch 11 AM

Lower Fox River

July 20: Park-to-Park Paddle
Shattuck Park (Neenah) to Lutz Park (Appleton)
Meet & shuttle: 7:30-9 AM; Launch 9:30 AM

August 17: Tall Ships Paddle
De Pere to Green Bay
Paddle among replicas of historic sailing ships
Meet & shuttle: 8-9 AM; Launch 9:30 AM

September 28: Appleton Locks Paddle
Lutz Park (Appleton) to Sunset Point Park (Kimberly)
Paddle through Appleton’s four hand-operated locks
Meet & shuttle: 8-9 AM; Launch 9:30 AM

Heritage Paddle Activities

Paddlers are encouraged to seek additional heritage opportunities at each paddle event.

June 22-23: Upper Fox Paddles
Two voyageur canoes and two DNR canoes will be available. On June 23, Pierre Le Blanc will interpret fur trader times as a passenger from one of the canoes during the paddle.

July 20: Park-to-Park Paddle
Two voyageur canoes and two DNR canoes will be available. Please join us after the paddle at the Appleton Yacht Club for a special guest speaker. Paul Robbins, director of the UW Nelson Institute of Environmental Studies, will be speanking Wisconsin water bodies and the implications of climate Change.

August 17: Tall Ships Paddle
One voyageur canoe will be available, as well as historic voyageur, Pierre Le Blanc. The Tall Ships Festival will take place downtown Green Bay, August 16-18.

September 28: Appleton Locks Paddle
Two voyageur canoes and two DNR canoes will be available, as well as historic voyageur, Pierre Le Blanc.

Heritage Paddle Helpful Links

Reserve your spot in our Voyageur Canoe

Contact Mark at Nature Current to reserve your spot.  Email:  info@naturecurrent.com

 

Paddling the Flooded Wolf River near New London

Spring has been slow in coming this year and the Wolf River is still flowing with a lot of water.  Water that flows over it’s banks and creates new places to explore when flood season is here.   We have finally had a series of really nice weather days for paddling and the river was calling.

The Wolf River typically floods in the spring around the New London fishing area.  This is a nice spot to explore if you want to float beyond the banks of the normal river channel.  The New London fishing area is not a regular boat landing spot.  Launching from the shore line can be muddy and rocky.

Paddling and Camping – Big Eau Pleine Flowage

Big Eau Pleine Reservoir is a 6300 reservoir in north central Wisconsin with lots of paddling opportunities along its wooded shores.  There are 11 boat landings on the reservoir where you can get on and explore this stretched out reservoir.

Big Eau Pleine County Park is a 1400 acre park with trails, camping and a couple of boat landings.  The park is on a peninsula in the north central side of the reservoir making this location a good base location for your paddle explorations.  There are a number of campsites that are close to the water and would make great bases for a multi day paddle exploration of this large reservoir.

Enjoy these photos of paddling and camping around Big Eau Pleine County Park.

Big Canoe Paddling on the Wolf River with Nature Current

A nice warm April day was a great reason to get the new BIG canoe on the water with friends and family to explore the flooded Wolf River. We started in Shiocton at Hwy 54, paddled up to where the Shioc River enters the Wolf and then were able to go another mile on the Shioc because the water was so high.

We did have to turn Water Lily, our big voyageur canoe around at the old bridge over the Shioc River because the clearance was too low. We took the big canoe through some of the flooded areas and explored in the trees. A red tailed hawk visited us along our journey.

Check out Nature Current BIG canoe journey’s at our new website.

Wisconsin’s Public Islands

Did you know there are over 500 public islands in Wisconsin?

Wisconsin, with its 84,000 miles of rivers and 15,000 lakes, is full of places to paddle, float, fish, or just watch and listen.

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The BLM has a share in all this beauty, since we manage about 500 islands in Wisconsin’s rivers and lakes. These are the islands that were omitted from the original land survey back in the 1830s and 1840s. We don’t manage all the islands. Many of our islands are close to other state-owned islands or private islands, and it is critical that you determine whether an island is public land before you use it.

Have you visited any of our BLM public islands?

For more information and detailed locations with maps of these island visit the Public Lands of Wisconsin website.

 

Mapping new trails: Kayakers called upon to explore 1,600-mile Lake Michigan Water Trail | MLive.com

“We want people to record and photograph the put-ins and take-out points and get shots of the in-between,” he said. “We’re looking for GPS coordinates, too. Paddlers would submit all that to a website. The first would be listed as the segment trailblazer.”

Ken Braband DSCN0303.JPGThat segment also would be listed on a proposed Lake Michigan water trail passport that paddlers can carry. Those who eventually complete the trail would get a certificate of completion, Lemberg said.

Mapping new trails: Kayakers called upon to explore 1,600-mile Lake Michigan Water Trail | MLive.com.