Return to Oconomowoc

Or at least the area-Tour of Wisconsin Day 11

There was so much to do in this area of Wisconsin that we decided to head back in that general direction. It’s only 30 minutes from Milwaukee. We’d planned to go farther west the last couple of days but we’ll go to those places next time.

We drove into Oconomowoc and found River Coffee. The shop is downtown and really not close to a river but the seating was comfortable and the coffee was good. The shop is part of something called 1260 Social. It’s a group of businesses and venues for meetings, events, even receptions.

Ice Age Trail

We drove south to Delafield to an extension of the Lake County Trail, the Ice Age Scenic Trail. However, while the trail was paved and well maintained, this part of the trail was not flat-VERY not flat. We parked in a public lot on the west side of Delafield and biked east back through town, then further east. We made it as far as the Naga-Waukee Golf course when Mary decided that was enough climbing for today. I went on ahead. I had RAGBRAI in Iowa the following week so I figured some more hill training would be helpful. I did a few more miles past Pewaukee Lake then headed back.

On the previous day we had pedaled to a lake and a landing that looked nice. We thought that would be a good choice for paddling today. And actually, it would be a two-lake paddle: Upper Nemahbin and Lower Nemahbin Lake.

We set in at the ramp and parking lot between the two lakes. There is a narrow canal that runs under the interstate connecting the two lakes. It is just wide and deep enough for a power boat or pontoon. The water was warm and crystal clear. We headed to the lower lake and found the water very shallow, often times no more than 2-3 feet. Quite a bit of the shoreline was built up but there was still some undeveloped areas. We paddled around the big island and headed back north towards the canal.

To get to the upper lake, you paddle under the interstate then past Panga Bar and Grill. They also have kayak and pontoon rentals. We didn’t stop this time, we’ll put that on the next-time schedule.

Upper Nemahbin was much larger and deeper but still very clear and clean water. There was some light powerboat traffic and a large number of paddlers. We followed the shoreline up and around then back south. We ended up paddling about four miles and loaded up the boats. All in all a very nice paddle. And a nice day.