The Lower Wisconsin River Valley (LWRV)
The Wisconsin River is two or three rivers. At its headwaters, above Eagle River, it is more of a creek and maps sometime label it as such.
From Eagle River to Prairie du Sac, it is a hard working, rock bound river. The many rapids have been replaced with 25 dams, powering hydro plants and papermills and creating long narrow impoundments. Just within the City of Wisconsin Rapids (formerly Grand Rapids), the river drops over 100 feet. This portion of the river was created only after the glaciers retreated, about 10,000 years ago.
Below the Prairie du Sac dam, the river enters the Driftless and changes. Bluffs appear on both sides, hemming in the river. There are no more rocks, only a shifting sand bottom. Islands and sandbars appear and vanish depending upon the season and rainfall. Canoes and kayaks dominate, since the river is only technically navigable.
When the river flowed backwards?
The Great Flood
What terraces tell us
How the river was changed
