Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
From Sauk Prairie, in south-central Wisconsin just north of Madison, to its confluence with
the Mississippi River, the 92.5 miles of officially sanctioned casual wilderness make up an
“OldManRiver,”knownasthe
Lower Wisconsin State Riverway.
It'sthelongestremain-
ing never-dammed stretch of river in Wisconsin.
A grand achievement of civic middle-ground cooperation—well, after seven strenuous
years of hard fighting and horse-trading—these miles couldn't have been better chosen:
Precious little development had ever taken place. Ultimately the state hopes to own up to
80,000 acres of riverfront property; slightly more than half that is now under state control.
The riverway subsumes 19 official Natural Areas as diverse as Bakken's Pond near
Spring Green, to the haunting battlefield park of the Battle of Wisconsin Heights. It has
been called one of the most amazing conglomerations of natural history, ecology, state
and Native American history, recreation, flora and fauna, and topography in the Midwest.
Shoreline incursion is barred, keeping the bluffs and greenery intact, and any off-bank tim-
ber extraction has to first pass muster with a tough advisory-board review. About 350 spe-
ciesoffloraandfaunaarefoundinsidetheriverway'sparameters. Sixtyormorethreatened
or endangered species live within its boundaries, as do 35 flora species specific to the un-
glaciated Driftless Region. In 2013, the Department of Natural Resources happily reported
nearly500eaglesonthisstretchoftheriveralone,morethandoublethenumberfrom2012.
The riverway is also very much a work in progress. Development of new campgrounds,
rustic or otherwise, are ever planned, as are a scattering of new boat landings. Most are to
be concentrated on the Sauk City-Spring Green upper third and gradually diminish as the
river rolls southwest toward Wyalusing State Park. The stretch south and west of Boscobel
is earmarked for primitive status.
