Kayaking the Platte River - Lancaster, WI - Coon Hollow Road to Ellenboro - May 2024

Kayaking the Platte River in Platteville, WI. Put-in on Coon Hollow Road in Lancaster, WI. The put-in is a park-like setting with plenty of roadside parking. Please be very respectful of this wonderful area as it is private property and a nice put-in location with grass lined banks which offers a few river bank access options depending on water levels.
Take-out in Ellenboro, WI at the bridge on Airport Road. The take-out is a little more public-like with mowed paths to the river and roadside parking.
Put-in: maps.app.goo.gl/tCh8Y5x1REraE...
Take-out: maps.app.goo.gl/seiU9wTY3jVJx...
Water level: 5’ or above is a good water level to run this upper stretch of the Platte. For this trip, the 5.3’ water level was perfect and offered a safe but fun water level.
Gauge level for the Platte River at Rockville, WI:
waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring...
This upper section of the Platte arguably is the best section of the Platte but not as dependable for water level as below Kingsford Road or Ellenboro. This 9.5 mile trip can be shortened by taking out at Kingsford Road (upstream of the bridge, river left). Kingsford Road is grassy down the river and has good roadside parking. The 3 mile section from Kingsford to Ellenboro is a nice section to either include in the Coon Hollow to Ellenboro trip (9.5 miles) or add onto the Ellenboro to Platte Road section which makes that trip 7.5 miles.
As with many rivers in the driftless, there are strings of electric or barbed wire on the Platte River. For this trip, each of the strands of wire were well maintained by the farmers (thank you very much land owners) and high enough for us to clear in our kayaks. That said, there could anyday be new wires placed or ones which sag lower. I recommend bringing a Y-er with you on this trip if you have one; if not, make one and bring it. Here is a link to the Y-er site on Miles Paddled. milespaddled.com/the-y-er-a-h...
All this stated, a bike shuttle on this upper section of the river would be for someone pretty darn athletic (or has an e-bike)! The hills are very steep and there are many of them; for us, we car shuttled the fairly long, windy, and hilly shuttle which still takes 25 or so minutes round trip.
Gauge level at Rockville, WI:
waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring...
Lastly, check out the fabulous overview of the Platte River on ‘Miles Paddled’ www.milespaddled.com/2018/10/...

[@nathanpiperphoto]

Thank you for another hidden gem. Is it really that common to see stuff like this 1:35 on kayaking routes in the Driftless Region?

[@driftlesskayaker]

Thanks for the comment. Yes, this is really a great 'hidden' gem and one that is a little rare to paddle due to the needed water levels. I hope to get out to do this section again this week while the river is still up. As for the wires, yes, you will find them on several rivers in the Driftless, especially those rivers that are not prone to outfitters. I'm pretty certain that we've seen wires across the rivers in each state in the Driftless; especially the rivers that are shallow where the cattle can cross across the rocky areas where the riffles are. That said, most of them are not an issue and the Y-er tool really helps to safely lift them out of the way if they are low. More often than not, you can pass under them somewhere in the width of the river. I always keep the Y-er 'tool' in the back of my kayak incase the need arises. I hope this helps you out. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions on the topic; I 'invented' the Y-er tool many years ago when I first became aware of the issue and too was concerned about them. Since then, it's not an issue but something for the front person to watch for. Happy paddling!