DNR Designates the Great Pinery Heritage Waterway as Wisconsin's 21st Waterway

According to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), “Wisconsin is blessed with more than 15,000 lakes, 43,000 miles of rivers and 800 miles of Great Lakes shoreline. There is no shortage of paddling opportunities in Wisconsin. Water trails provide a network of access points, resting places and attractions for users of watercraft on lakes and rivers. In Wisconsin, some trails are interpretive routes, some take paddlers to campsites, some connect communities, but all allow visitors to experience the natural beauty of our state by this original mode of transportation.”  The DNR listed 12,600 rivers and streams in our great state and of those rivers and streams only 20 rivers are listed on their website as state designated waterways and trails.  

The Wausau & Marathon County Parks & Recreation Foundation is proud that the Great Pinery Heritage Waterway (GPHW) has been designated as Wisconsin’s 21^st water trail and the first such water trail in Central Wisconsin. Trail information can be found at:

http://Water Trails in Wisconsin | | Wisconsin DNR

The GPHW paddling trail starts its journey at the historic Hat Rapids Dam in Oneida County and finishes its travels at the Lake DuBay Dam in Portage County. The scenic, urban, and historical water trail is 108 miles in length, the 4^th longest water trail in the state.  The GPHW connects today’s paddler with the history, events and people of the river that runs through our heartland from ancient times to the 20th century. 

In addition to the creation of the river trail, a comprehensive website highlighting the trail’s access points and its amenities has been created and will be updated as additional amenities come online, this can be found at:

www.greatpinery.com

Communities and organizations up and down the river have embraced this unique project by adding key assets such as ADA-approved launches that have opened the waterway to the disabled and elderly, making the Wausau area, a paddling destination like no other in the Midwest, according to William Bertram, President of Wausau and Marathon County Parks and Recreation Foundation.

Two additional trails are under development by the Parks Foundation that will create additional water venues to the enjoyment of paddlers throughout the country, Bertram says. The goal is to make Wausau the preferred base camp for paddling adventures from whitewater rafting on the Wolf River to small streams such as the Lower Big Rib and Eau Claire Rivers that offer a multitude of experiences for the recreational paddler to the adrenaline junkie.   

Key funding was provided by the Wausau and Marathon County Parks and Recreation Foundation, B.A. & Esther Greenheck Foundation, the Dwight and Linda Davis Foundation, the Dudley Foundation, the Judd Alexander Foundation, Merrill Community Foundation, and the Community Foundation of North Central Wisconsin along with individual donors such as the Hadley Family Fund.

Anybody wanting to donate to the water trail can do so at its website at:

http://Great Pinery Heritage Waterway Post (wmcpf.org)

The Parks Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

MEDIA CONTACT:
William Bertram, President of Wausau & Marathon County Parks & Recreation Foundation