Kayaking the Upper Iowa River - Decorah, IA - Trout Run Park to the Lower Dam - October 2023

Put-in at Trout Run Park in Decorah, IA. Take-out at the Lower Dam in Dorchester, IA. Trout Run Park has a cement parking lot and good access to the river. The trek from the river up to the parking lot at the Lower Dam requires a little effort. The shoreline is nice and grassy and not bad. The access road to the Lower Dam uses Lower Dam Road which is a gravel 1-lane road. We didn’t have any issues with meeting cars on the road but that could be a challenge. The river level at 1.52’ at the Decorah was very good, some scraping here and there but nothing bad. We saw some fish and eagles on this trip but not nearly the amazing amount that we saw below the Lower Dam on a different trip. It was clear over our (4) day trip that as we moved up the Upper Iowa River, the water levels dropped and there was much more scraping and dragging. Portaging around the Upper Dam does require some work; not terrible but it is a walk when carrying a boat and all the gear. Both the take-out and put-in above and below the dam were good and very obvious.
waterdata.usgs...
northeastiowar...

[@warrenthomas4687]

Did you guys run into any bowhunters using the river for access to hunting locations??

[@driftlesskayaker]

Nope. If so, they were well camouflaged. :)