Kinnickinnic River
A river in Wisconsin
About Kinnickinnic River
The Kinnickinnic runs nine miles through Pierce and St. Croix counties, straight through the middle of River Falls, before dropping into the St. Croix near Prescott. The survey puts 78 acres of surface and 23 miles of bank on it.
Thirty miles across its system are classified as Class I trout water with an Outstanding Resource Water listing — self-sustaining trout, the state's highest water quality designation, and a river that runs through a university town on its way there. Smallmouth habitat is classified across cool, warm and nursery water on the lower reaches.
No public boat landing is on record, which is expected: this is a wading river, and one of the more accessible ones in western Wisconsin precisely because a town sits on it.
Trout regulations vary by reach and by season, and on a river this heavily fished they are worth reading carefully. Check the current DNR trout regulations.
Written from Wisconsin DNR hydrography and fisheries data. State water ID WBIC 2601800.
How the state manages it
- smallmouth · Wadable Cool Water; Wadable Nursery Waters; Wadable Warm Water
- trout · CLASS I
Wisconsin DNR fisheries designations. These describe how the water is managed, not what is in it on any given day.
Fishing license
Wisconsin sells them online. Buy one from the state. We don’t know whether you need one — that depends on your age, where you live, the water, and what your guide’s own license covers.