EMBARRASS RIVER, MAIN BRANCH (Shawano Co., WI, 11 mi. southwest of Shawano near Pella)

LENGTH 400 yds., CLASS III

SEASON: A week or two in early spring and right after intense rainstorms during the summer.

PUT-IN: At a county park. To find the park from the South Branch takeout, drive east on Hwy. M until you reach Caroline. Then take Hwy. G north for 2.2 miles where you will come to a T in the road. Turn east onto Grant Rd. which ends in 2.5 miles. At this point turn south onto Branch Rd. In less than 1 mile you will come to the turnoff to the County Park which leaves the road to the south. Drive into the park across the bridge and stay to the right. When you arrive at the parking area, walk over to the river to make sure you are in the right spot, unload the boats, and hike up the trail to the top of the rapids. The run ends near the area where you park the cars.

TAKEOUT: At the parking lot.

GAGE: USGS gage on the Main Branch near Embarrass. The river is rather pushy at 2000 cfs but it is a fun ride.

FUN FACT: Short but sweet.

SHUTTLE: Hike your boat back up and do it again.

A recent dam removal on the Embarrass River has made this section of river boatable again. We have only hit this stretch at flood stage of 2200 cfs. There were some really sweet front surfing waves at the top of the run extending most of the way across the river. This is a nice stretch if you still have time after running the Red River and the South Branch of the Embarrass. We would not recommend it as your primary run, but it makes a nice end to a day of paddling and if the water were warm you could find some good playboating.

It is not a particularly difficult kayak run but the water can get rather powerful at high flows.

5 Apr 1997 Guy Babbitt, Steve Corsi, Tom O'Keefe 2200 cfs