Milwaukee Urban Water Trail

The long Fourth of July weekend was the perfect time to try out a section of the Milwaukee Urban Water Trail with our new Kayak Group. If you are new to the sport, using designated water trails will allow you to safely kayak without having to worry about motorized vehicles capsizing you. We chose to paddle from Newburg to Fredonia on the Milwaukee River. Because this is part of a public private partnership, there are plenty of fun things to see along the way. Besides wildlife, there are parks, farms, log cabins and other points of interest. This section is 10 miles by river with some sections of small shallow rapids that offer some bits of excitement.

The launch is from Fireman’s Park in Newburg and the landing is in Waubedonia Park in Fredonia. This is located just next to Waubeka, home of Flag Day. Both areas have toilet facilities, with water at Waubedonia Park. Since this is a four hour paddle, it’s best to take at least two bottles in your kayak. We had three members present for this trip, with a new name to add to the group.

We saw deer, an osprey, a bald eagle, an eagle nest, a blue heron, a gaggle of geese, a sand hill crane, muskrat, and fish. We heard lots of birds and in some areas it felt like we were in Jurassic Park. Other times, we felt we were hiding from having to do farm chores since the cows were mooing and the “dairy-air” was definitely present. I can’t leave out the insects. What a variety of flying creatures! All were welcome to ride along, except for a few biting flies.

The water foliage was spectacular. This area of the Milwaukee River is crystal clear allowing you to see the beautiful sandy bottom. The variety of seaweed was wonderful in shades of beautiful green.

Check out the pictures below, with the first two showing out launch site at Fireman’s Park.

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