Experience the Exhilaration of Whitewater Rafting in Marinette County

Picture a trip that includes great food, adrenaline-pumping activities and relaxing under the stars by a fire. This fall, my partner and I and our kids made our thrilling family trip dreams come to life when we headed to Marinette County for an action-packed whitewater rafting trip that we will never forget.

When the week of our trip arrived, I found myself checking the weather repeatedly, smiling each time I saw the forecast for three days of sunny skies and cool nights. Friday finally arrived, and we headed to our home base for the trip: Wildman Adventure Resort in Niagara.

Our cabin’s central location made it easy to access all the activities we’d been looking forward to for so many weeks. On our first night, we unloaded the car and settled in before grilling over the backyard firepit. We were all so excited for the next day’s high-speed adventure that it was hard to get to sleep.

The next morning, my partner and I woke up early for a walk on one of the resort’s paths, enjoying the crisp autumn air and the soft crunch of the leaves under our feet. Once the kids got up, we picked up breakfast from Hometown Family Restaurant and fueled up with bacon, hash browns, toast and eggs cooked to everyone’s unique preferences.

Part of the reason we chose the Wildman Adventure Resort was its proximity to the Menominee River Outpost. The resort truly lives up to its slogan of being your one stop for adventure — there aren’t enough hours in the day to pack it all in! From playing a round on the nine-hole golf course to taking a rock climbing lesson or splattering each other with paintballs, there was always something to do. I think we were all looking forward to the main event of whitewater rafting the most, though.

People often don’t realize it’s possible to raft in the Midwest, but this section of the Menominee River has Class III and Class IV rapids (on a scale of one to five, five is the most technically difficult). Plus, while most river rapids are at their peak in the spring, when water levels are highest, the dam on the Menominee keeps the flow consistent — and the rapids exhilarating — for the full rafting season, making it the perfect choice for our fall trip.

We grew more and more excited to get on the water as we went through the paddle talk with our guide, learning about when to keep our paddles in the water (always!) and how to help the guide at the back of our raft navigate with well-timed forward and backward strokes.

It wasn’t long before we were on our raft and approaching our first whitewater set, and I could tell we were all feeling equally nervous and excited. We cruised through the center of the V, the section of the water that is safe to navigate through, and headed toward another rapid. Each set of rapids was a thrilling, real-time lesson in focus and teamwork, where the consequence of getting distracted was that you would probably get wet! Thankfully, we never tipped, but we definitely got splashed. The spray of the water felt good, even with the slightly cooler fall temperatures.

We were glad we’d kept our eyes open along the flat-water sections. The kids spotted white-tailed deer as well as a few bald eagles in the tall pines atop the 200-foot cliffs along the riverbank. The three-plus-hour paddle went by much more quickly than we wanted it to. We reluctantly returned our helmets and life jackets, but first made sure to get a couple of family photos to capture our ear-to-ear grins that we couldn’t seem to get off our faces. We’ll definitely have memorable holiday cards this year!

Back at the cabin, we reveled in a little downtime as my partner and I taught the kids how to play cribbage, a Midwest classic. I have wonderful memories of learning the game as a kid with my grandparents and was tickled to pass it on during our trip. Later, we made s’mores over the fire. What’s better than having a sweet treat with your loved ones under the stars after a day of adventure?

The next day, we had another exciting Wildman Adventure Resort activity planned: zip lining. We returned to the Menominee River Outpost and strapped on helmets and harnesses. My partner is not a big fan of heights but was determined to step out of his comfort zone and get up to the first platform to see how he felt. Our kids were ready for this new experience and stepped off that first platform with no hesitation. Their excited laughter spurred us forward. I cheered my partner on as he took that first step into the air, and I followed soon after. I could hear him yelling with joy and relief as we flew above the beautiful forest.

There are five lines here for a combined 1,900 feet of zipping through the red, orange and yellow autumn leaves. We all felt exhilarated when we reached the final platform. The staff took a wonderful photo of the whole fam smiling, none of us grinning wider than my partner, who ended up loving the zip line.

All that adrenaline left us hungry, and the kids were stoked to try out The Brothers Three for pizza. The restaurant cuts their pies into squares because the slices need to be short and stout to hold all the delicious toppings they pile on. We wanted to try several ’za’s, so we ordered the Ultimate BBQ Chicken and the Hawaiian. Two large pizzas were perfect to feed us lunch and bring leftovers back to the cabin for breakfast the next day.

For our next adventure, we decided to keep our feet on the ground and explore the Riverside Trail system. It was great to explore on land after seeing the area from the water and the air. There were three trails close to us, and we chose to meander Hemlock Curve Nature Trail, a 2.4-mile route along the Peshtigo River. We loved the view of this beautiful water-way with its lichen- and moss-covered rocky banks. We used the trail guide (available at the trailhead) to learn about the flora and fauna of the region, like the hemlock grove along the route.

As our three-day trip came to a close and we watched the sun set over the cabin, we were grateful we’d taken this action-packed trip that allowed us to see the Menominee River from so many perspectives.

We’ve already started looking into other one-stop adventure lodging options where we can go whitewater rafting again. We’ll be even more confident and comfortable the next time now that we have learned some of the lingo and the paddling strokes.