Hidden Falls Boat Launch

[uwleagle]

My dad is coming to visit me this weekend and bringing his boat. Just wondering if their is a boat launch fee or any special park stickers or anything we would need to launch the boat and park.

[PierBridge]

No fee or stickers are needed at Hidden Falls!

Good Luck!

[polarsusd81]

UW, what kind of boat and trailer do you have. From reading on other posts, it seams that if you don't have guides on the trailer, it might be better off to launch and load at Lilydale. If you have the motor to get up river quick, it is a pretty good one. There is a pretty good eddy that will swing the boat around at Hidden Falls, but it is easier to pull the boat up to the shore to park the truck there.

The other thing to note, there are tons of good fishing spots along the way up from Lilydale.

[uwleagle]

Thanks for the info. Its a pretty old 16 foot smoker craft, 1981 I think. . It tops out at about 25mph so that might be a pretty good drive going up the river at the speed from the Lily dale ramp or not???? Me and my dad did put some guides on the trailer though so we should be fine I would think. How far from the Hidden Falls Ramp is the Y where the Minnesota comes in. Is Lilydale ramp closer?

[polarsusd81]

Not sure of the distance, but in my boat, with three people at 15 mph on the GPS it took us maybe 15 minutes going upstream, with about 1/4 mile or so being a no wake zone for the yacht club. It really isn't bad at all running around down there. You should be able to zip around pretty good topping out at 25. Don't want to go much faster than that. With guides on the trailer, launching at Hidden Falls would probably be alright for you guys. Give it a shot and let us know how you do.

Forgot to mention, Lilydale is closer to the confluence of the Sippi and Sota, but Hidden Falls is closer to the dam.

[uwleagle]

Thanks again for the help. Probably going to head out on Friday, weather doesn't look too good though.

[Shack]

If I where you, I would check out Lilly.

At 25 mph, you should be at the "Y" in under 10 minutes or less.

Plus, the first and foremost rule of thumb on the river is, Murphy’s law. What can go wrong, will. This way (if you have a trolling motor) you can always float back down stream to the launch.

I have never been caught with my pants down “yet”, but I would hate to take that Taxi ride back to launch and go down stream to nearest launch with my rig and trailer.

Good luck with your father.

[uwleagle]

Well I was thinking about fishing by the dam first and if that wasn't good heading down to the Y. Would the Y be a better spot to start at?????? This will be my first time in a boat on Pool 2 so I don't really know any spots, but I have caught fish from shore close to the dam so I figured I would start there.

[uwleagle]

How does the launch look after all this weather. Not super icey or anything is it. Should be fine tomorrow right?