Gauge Information

Gauge Description:

USGS has added the gauge for this run. This gauge is 29 miles downriver, so may not completely accurately reflect levels in this reach. Drainage area at the gauge is 507 square miles. We have created a 'virtual gauge' to approximate flow in this reach based upon approximate drainage area ratio (put-in vs. gauge location) of 0.3388. It should be expected that this virtual gauge will lag actual flow in this reach. That is, when the headwaters are hit with rain, this section may be runnable when the water hasn't yet reached the gauge. Similarly, as the water runs out, this section may fall too low to boat while there is still somewhat elevated flow at the gauge. Also, there will be times when not all tribs contribute proportionally, the virtual gauge may fail to reflect true conditions in this section.

We will continue to embed the gauge from NOAA, in case the USGS gauge goes back offline.


Click here for tabular data.

About 2.3' (about 760 cfs) on that gauge is minimum, and 3.0' (1300 cfs) or better may be optimum.
An anonymous contributor provides (2009-03-31):
There is an unofficial gauge in the river by the CTH J. I would suggest a minimum around 23", below that you will scrape at most of the rapids and may even have to get out. There is no real maximum, for running the upper portion from Mud Lake Road to J. The river will rarely reach heights when the dells section is too high, but could.

Approximate correlations
(at USGS gauge)
Feet CFS
4.0 2,280
3.5 1,770
3.0 1,310
2.5    900
2.0    580

Gauge Information

Name Range Difficulty Updated Level
Little Wolf at put-in
virtual-50251 200 - 1000 cfs I(II) 01h25m ~ 0 cfs (rc= -1.0 )
Generally too low for good whitewater trip.
Virtual gauge APPROXIMATES flow likely at put-in based upon 0.3388 * Royalton gauge. EXPECT that virtual gauge will not always reflect actual conditions.
RangeWater LevelDifficultyComment
0 - 150 cfs extremely Low-somewhat Low I(II) Generally too low for good whitewater trip.
150 - 200 cfs somewhat Low-barely Low I(II) Possible paddle, but likely a scrape in gradient. (We welcome your input on this virtual gauge and correspondence to runnable flows. Add a comment or report.)
200 - 300 cfs barely runnable-med runnable I-II(IV) Likely low-to-moderate flow. (We welcome your input on this virtual gauge and correspondence to runnable flows. Add a comment or report.)
300 - 500 cfs med runnable-a bit pushy runnable I-II(IV) Likely moderate flows. (We welcome your input on this virtual gauge and correspondence to runnable flows. Add a comment or report.)
500 -1000 cfs a bit pushy runnable-high runnable II+(IV) Likely pushy high flows. (We welcome your input on this virtual gauge and correspondence to runnable flows. Add a comment or report.)
1000 -2000 cfs somewhat High-somewhat High II(IV) Unusually high flows. Caution is urged.
2000 -2500 cfs somewhat High-extremely High II(IV) (Near) Record flows. River is in flood. Utmost caution is required.
LITTLE WOLF RIVER AT ROYALTON, WI
usgs-04080000 2.30 - 5.00 ft II(IV) 01h23m ~ 1.24 ft (rc= -0.5 )
Likely too low for good whitewater experience.
Gauge is well (30+ miles) downstream, with a fairly significant trib (S.Br.L.Wolf) coming in, thus gauge may not accurately reflect actual conditions for this
RangeWater LevelDifficultyComment
0.00 -2.30 ft extremely Low-barely Low II(IV) Likely too low for good whitewater experience.
2.30 -5.00 ft barely runnable-high runnable II(IV) Likely good flow for whitewater.
5.00 -9.90 ft barely High-extremely High II(IV) Unusually high flows.

Report - Reports of Little Wolf Wolf River Road to CTH.C (Big Falls) (7.4 miles) and related gauges

Reports give the public a chance to report on river conditions throughout the country as well as log the history of a river.

Reports

When River/Gauge Subject Level Reporter
2y260d11h30m Big Falls - Little Wolf [WI] Big Falls n/a bryan foster
2y260d11h51m Little Wolf - Big Falls [WI] Big Falls n/a bryan foster
2y260d12h15m Big Falls - Little Wolf [WI] Big Falls n/a bryan foster