Great Pinery Heritage Waterway: A New National Recreation Trail in Wisconsin

The National Park Service has designated the Great Pinery Heritage Waterway, a 108-mile stretch of the Wisconsin River, as a National Recreation Trail. This waterway runs from the Hat Rapids Dam in Oneida County to the Lake DuBay Dam in Portage County, and includes shorter stretches of the Lower Big Rib River and the Lower Eau Claire River. The development of the Great Pinery is part of ongoing efforts to bolster the Wausau area as a tourism destination and an attractive place to live.

Signs, maps, and a website, greatpinery.com, help guide boaters, particularly kayakers and canoeists, along its route. The water trail was developed by a consortium of community leaders and groups, with the Wausau and Marathon County Parks Foundation as a driving force behind it.

The National Recreation Trail status is more than a win for outdoor lovers. It's a boost to the local economy, identity, and way of life, according to Tim White, the executive director of Visit Wausau. The designation helps local communities preserve access, expand signage, and inspire the next generation of paddlers.

The Great Pinery Heritage Waterway is part of a network of regional outdoor amenities that includes the Ice Age National Scenic Trail. With the Great Pinery now nationally designated, Marathon County can proudly say it is home to not one, but two national trails. The label "Wisconsin's Basecamp" encompasses all the outdoor activities available in the area, including flat-water paddling, hiking, mountain biking, downhill and cross-country skiing, and whitewater kayaking.

The Pinery offers a range of paddling conditions. There are gentle, scenic stretches through pine forests as well as the churning whitewater paddling available at downtown Wausau's Whitewater Park. Often called the "hardest working river in the world," the Wisconsin River helped bolster and develop the region's logging and paper industries in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The Great Pinery celebrates our natural and cultural heritage.

Keith Uhlig has been writing about Wisconsin, its people, and all it has to offer since 2000. Raised in Colby, he loves wandering around the state. You can reach him at [email protected] or find him on Facebook, X, and Threads.