Wisconsin | Northwest Wisconsin
Jump RiverWayside Park / Highway 73 to Haley Park
Lower Jump River day from the Highway 73 Wayside Park access near the village of Jump River to Haley Park in Sheldon. Expect clear water, frequent Class I riffles, boulder gardens, wooded banks, and a direct USGS gauge at the take-out.
Checking current river conditions…
Route location
Loading the route snapshot. This usually takes a few seconds.
Route overview
Trip details
Access rules, camping and seasonal notes.
Permits, camping and season
Access and shuttle
Launch at the Highway 73 Wayside Park access and take out at Haley Park in Sheldon. This lower Jump River route follows the Rusk County Highway 73-to-Sheldon paddle and the Wisconsin River Trips Wayside Park-to-Haley Park report.
Access map
Put-in
Wayside Park / Highway 73 Jump River AccessRusk County publishes the official Highway 73-to-Sheldon route coordinates as Jump River Access and Sheldon Access; use those named sites rather than informal bridge shoulders.
Take-out
Haley Park / Sheldon AccessWayside Park has good public access near Highway 73, while Haley Park spans both sides of the bridge in Sheldon and has an outhouse according to Wisconsin River Trips.
Road shuttle
Use a rural two-car shuttle between Wayside Park off Highway 73 near the village of Jump River and Haley Park in Sheldon. The exact route is longer than the road shuttle suggests, so stage vehicles before launching.
Additional access notes
- The direct USGS gauge is at Sheldon near the take-out, so check the gauge before staging there and before deciding whether to extend downstream.
More route and safety guidance
- Use the direct Sheldon gauge and recent weather together: about 200-400 cfs is the broad normal window, while 501-1,000 cfs is very high and 1,001+ cfs is beyond the broad recreational recommendation. Do not treat the 2,200 cfs race observation as ordinary paddle guidance.
- High or rising water can create faster Class I-II wave trains and change wood or strainer exposure. Launch and land at the named Wayside Park and Haley Park accesses, and reassess before extending downstream from the Sheldon take-out.
Plan this paddle
Choose your trip times
No account needed. Check the selected access points above, then choose both dates and times. For an overnight paddle, set take-out to the following date.
Times use the selected time zone. Check it against the river’s location before saving or sharing.
Browser plans stay on this device. Sharing opens your device’s share tools or gives you text to copy.
Download GPX Route geometry only; no schedule required.
Conditions
Check how the river is changing and what weather to expect.
Recent trend
Checking preferred range.
Checking trend.
Gauge source
--Checking timestampDetailed weather
Weather
Hourly forecast
Checking weather.
Loading today's forecast.
Next 8 hours
Short-route forecast
Checking the next several hours.
Plan ahead
Tomorrow and the weekend
Forecasts can change. Check current conditions again before leaving.
Waiting on forecast.
Waiting on forecast.
Station details and river cameras
Station observations
USGS measurements
Measurement notes and coverage
These are observations at the station. Water depth and current can differ along your trip.
River camera · USGS
View at the gauge
Jump River at Sheldon, WI. This view may be outside your paddling reach. Images are periodic and do not establish safe conditions.
Photos and recent reports
Look for recent access, obstruction and hazard observations. Context photos may show a different part of the river.
Paddler reports
Recent notes from paddlers
A few quick notes from people who were on this route recently.
Share a recent access update, hazard observation or photo.
Sources and methodology
Review source dates and published guidance below. We have not inspected this trip in person.
Why this scoreData reliability: checking
This rating reflects whether the gauge measures this part of the river, whether published water-level guidance is available, and how recently the data was updated.
- Checking data sources and update times.
- Checking evidence cautions.
Data behind the scoreWater levels, published guidance and update times
These readings and published water-level limits help explain today’s score.
| Gauge site | Jump River at Sheldon, WI |
| Discharge | Checking |
| Gauge height | Checking |
| 24h trend | Checking |
| 24h change | Checking |
| Current band | Checking |
| Rain last 24h | Checking |
| Rain last 72h | Checking |
| Air temp | Checking |
| Water temp | Checking |
| Wind | Checking |
| Gusts | Checking |
| Rain timing | Checking |
| Preferred range | 200 cfs to 400 cfs |
| Low threshold | 100 cfs |
| High threshold | 1,000 cfs |
| Evidence strength behind the range | Local route guidance |
| Gauge observed | Checking |
| Paddle Today updated | Checking |
| Main source behind this score | Wisconsin River Trips Jump River lower-corridor gauge guidance |
| Gauge source | Checking |
| Weather source | Checking |
| Rainfall source | Checking |
NotesPublished evidence and verification notes
These notes cover the access details, route quirks, and source caveats most likely to matter once you get there.
- Official routeHighway 73 to Sheldon
Rusk County Tourism publishes the Jump River Highway 73 to Sheldon trip, describes a boat launch just east of the village of Jump River, and says the paddle to Sheldon takes less than three hours when run straight through.
- Endpoint coordinates45.354054, -90.788597 to 45.307764, -90.955985
Rusk County publishes coordinates for the Jump River Access and Sheldon Access on the official Highway 73-to-Sheldon route page.
- Exact route report11.1 miles from Wayside Park to Haley Park
Wisconsin River Trips documents the exact Wayside Park / Highway 73 to Haley Park / Sheldon route and describes both accesses as good, unobstructed public launch and take-out options.
- Direct gaugeUSGS 05362000
USGS operates the Jump River at Sheldon gauge immediately in the take-out corridor, and Wisconsin River Trips uses that gauge for the exact Wayside-to-Sheldon and adjacent Haley-to-County-G route reports.
- Usable flow ladder101-400 cfs normal runnable range
Wisconsin River Trips describes the local Sheldon gauge as accurate for the adjacent lower route and estimates 0-100 cfs as likely too shallow, 101-200 cfs as low but likely navigable, 201-300 cfs as average, and 301-400 cfs as high but likely okay.
- High-water caution1001+ cfs maybe too high
The same Wisconsin River Trips ladder treats 501-1000 cfs as extremely high and 1001+ cfs as maybe too high for recreational paddling; the exact Wayside-to-Sheldon race report at 2200 cfs confirms that water can be very fast at extreme levels.
Verify it yourselfCheck the source links
Use these links to double-check the gauge, route details, and access notes before you head out.
Other routes nearby
Nearby routes within 75 miles
Flag a change
See something outdated?
Access, hazards, wood, and shuttle details change. Send a quick correction if something looks off.