Build your own low-tech raft!

Does floating down a river on a homemade log raft seem like an adventure from long ago? For a scout group camping at the Kickapoo Valley Reserve last summer, it became an exciting reality. The troop of boys and girls learned about the Rustic Raft Rally on the day before the event and, in less than 24 hours, they had constructed two rafts using only natural materials. They floated, paddled, and poled the rafts down the Kickapoo river and over the finish line along with a dozen other rafters – families, scouts, students, adventurers.

Some rafters had worked for weeks on their rafts, working only with natural materials, other participants had built them quickly. Every raft completed the course from landing 12, by Rockton, to landing 14, about 2.3 river miles.

This year the Rustic Raft Rally will be held on Saturday, July 27, 2019. The event is free and open to all ages. Contact Jackie Yocum at 608 625-2960 or email Jackie.yocum@wisconsin.gov to receive more information and to register. Rafts will be limited to fifteen.

The Rustic Raft Rally will include free wagon rides on Old 131, nature hikes, fishing for kids, a scavenger hunt, yard games, and a campfire. Food will be available for purchase. This event is sponsored by Friends of the Kickapoo Valley Reserve.