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| RIVER: | Turtle Creek, Shopiere Dam site |
| LOCATION: | 5 mi. N.E. of Beloit, WI |
| PUT-IN: | Sweet-Allyn County Park near Shopiere |
| ALT.PUT-IN: | Wayside on Hwy.140 at bridge, 2.5 miles North of Clinton, WI. |
| TAKE-OUT: | Sweet-Allyn County Park near Shopiere |
| SHUTTLE: | none (carry up, carry out) -or- if doing the float trip, from Sweet-Allyn Park, proceed North 0.1 mile and turn right (EastNorthEast) on Creek Road. Proceed 4.4 miles to Hwy.140. Turn right (South) to wayside at the river (2.5 miles North of Clinton, WI). |
| DIST: | 0.1 mile/4.75 miles |
| TIME: | x hours (PnP) |
| CLASS: | 0(II) |
| CHARACTER: | A short sloping bedrock slide, followed by riffle bed rips, in an otherwise flatwater stream. |
| GAUGE: | U.S.G.S. gauge: min=100, opt=300-500, high=500+
It appears a minimum of 100cfs should adequately 'float your boat' (cover the shoals), while 300 to 500 would provide better depth, and make slightly better 'defined' waves.The remainder of the float trip could certainly be done at much lower flow, and higher flows will certainly be boatable, but should be done only by experienced paddlers. |
| SEASON: | Spring or after heavy rain. |
| ANALYSIS: | Min.=16 cfs; 90%=43 cfs; 10%=230 cfs; Max.=6400 cfs; 10/90=5.3 |
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A fine float trip of about 4.75 miles might start at a wayside on Hwy.140, 2.5 miles north of Clinton, WI. An interesting old one-lane iron bridge, and a high, multi-arched, stone railroad bridge (about midway down) make the trip rather scenic.
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| Removal of the Shopiere Dam (Summer, 2000) has revealed a short sliding bedrock rapids. (Well, bedrock is probably misleading, since the bottom here is mostly mud and clay.) This ledge and downstream rips would form a nice exciting finale to this otherwise calm run. Unfortunately, it does not appear (based on various water levels I've seen) that it would provide any real 'play potential'. Rather, it is pretty much just an area of swifwater riffs and rips which could provide some brief thrills for flatwater paddlers and beginner whitewater boaters who may live in the area. (It is not likely to be worth driving very far to get to.) The river is fairly wide and shallow, so if any play is possible at any level, it would consist solely of tame surfs and flat-spins. Since the riverbed is mud/clay, it could be subject to unusually rapid erosion (especially if it suffers a few good floods), so the area could change from these observations and descriptions. |