2025 was the start of our inaugural Driscoll Siblings trip. After some planning, we decided to kayak the Wisconsin River from north of the Wisconsin Dells to Portage, WI. This trip was about 18 miles and took us two days to complete.
We looked into segments there were equally spaced between all of our houses. My siblings live in northern Wisconsin and the Milwaukee area. After some planning, we decided to float the upper and lower Wisconsin Dells for two days.
The plan was to float from the Town of Lyndon boat launch just north of the Dells to the Pine Island boat ramp. We would camp on one of the sandbars on the river. The boat landing coasts $8 per vehicle, per day. The boat landing was easy to find and had plenty of parking. After unloading the kayaks, we drove one of the cars down to the Pine Island boat ramp. This was our eventual ending point. This was an easy, beautiful drive, parking lot was totally empty and it’s free. You’ll pass the Aldo Leopold Foundation on the way there.
Our first segment took us through a wide part of the Wisconsin River and eventually into the Upper Dells. The water was choppy and we had some boat traffic. This was actually the most challenging part of the trip in terms of water conditions. As the river narrowed, it became very choppy as we had a steady wind to our back. After we rounded the first corner, the waves calmed down. My brother’s sleeping bag suffered some water damage from the waves splashing into the kayak.
This section was pretty and had some cliffs in the distance. We had originally planned to stop in Witch’s Gulch, but the water was too choppy to manage going all the way across the river.
When you get closer to the Wisconsin Dells, you will be greeted with larger and larger sandstone cliffs. We did have to compete with some boat traffic, but it wasn’t terrible. You just need to be ready for splash boats like the Wildthing. They did stop when they encountered us, but the waves were still pretty big. There is an area called the Narrows that is pretty tight and you will want to be careful with boat traffic. It’s short and pretty easy to navigate.
After about 5 miles and just over 2 hours, we stopped in the Dells to grab lunch and any other supplies (beer, mostly). The Dells was hectic, loud and the portage pull out was under construction. The pull out is right before the dam on the left hand side. If you do this next year (2026), there may be a very nice dock available.
We left our kayaks at the pull out and walked up to The District to have a cocktail and some lunch. The food was fine albeit a bit pricey. We then went to the grocery store and picked up some water and beer before heading back to the kayaks to complete the portage. The portage wasn’t terrible but it was a bit of a walk and tiring with 3 loaded kayaks. The transformer station for the dam is between the pull out and put in so you will need to walk around that. There are signs to help you find your way.
The next part of the journey took us 6 miles to our first potential camping spot.
Once back on the water, we continued through the Lower Dells. The scenery was stunning with towering sandstone cliffs and unique rock formations lining the river. The water calmed down considerably, making for a pleasant paddle. This was easily the most scenic part of the trip. There are even some houses perched overlooking the river.
After some time, you lose the cliffs and the river widens out again. The river gets very shallow so you will need to make sure you don’t get stuck. We had no boat traffic at this section.
We paddled until our first camping spot but decided that we wanted to continue further. We actually found the The Luck Bar and Grill about 100 yards off the river bank. We originally planned to cook freeze dried meals but stopped for dinner here. It was solid food and the other patrons were impressed we were paddling in such cold weather. Really, it was only about 60 degrees. I think the water comes further up to the bar sometimes.
After dinner, we continued down the river to check out some of the sandbars we had marked. We again had no boat traffic and the water was calm.
The clouds broke right as the sun was setting and provided some amazing yellow light on the backdrop of the river.
After paddling for a total of 13 miles and about 6 hours, we found a great campsite to camp on. It was nestled between some trees and another, adjacent sandbar. We set up our tents and were greeted to a beautiful sunset.
We had a fire and some laughs and called it a night. The next morning, we searched for mussels, fished and drank some coffee before hitting the water again. It was an easy 5 mile paddle back to the boat ramp and car.
Overall, I would highly recommend this trip. The scenery was stunning on the lower section of the Dells. I do not recommend this in busier summer months as the boat traffic would be very annoying and you may actually capsize in some of the narrow sections of the river.