104 E. Wisconsin Street - Portage, WI 53901

Information: 608-742-6242

Shovels and wheelbarrows were used to begin digging the Portage Canal in 1838. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers took over and completed it in 1876. It was 2.3 miles long, 75 feet wide, 7 feet deep, providing a connection between the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers. Large boats used the canal until the early 1900s. It is now open to limited canoe travel. Wisconsin's Ice Age Trail borders the canal.