The St. Croix River is dam controlled and is 33 miles long to the Grand Falls takeout. It offers a good variety of rapids and flatwater, good salmon and bass fishing and perhaps a moose, deer or eagle along the way. Free-flowing for much of its length and still relatively unpolluted, the St. Croix flows through some of the most scenic and least developed country in the Upper Midwest. Today the river is preserved as part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. The St. Croix National Scenic Riverway, which includes the St. Croix’s well-known Wisconsin tributary the Namekagon River, was established in 1968 as one of the original eight rivers under the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. The Lower St. Croix was added to the system in 1972.

The St. Croix provides ample opportunities for kayaking, canoeing, tubing, fishing, hiking, cross-country skiing, snow-shoeing, rock climbing, touring, picnics and other recreational activities. Low to medium hazard rapids can be found at St. Croix Falls, perfect for kayaking. Annual kayaking competitions are held each summer. The cliffs in this area are know for some of the best climbing areas in Minnesota and Wisconsin. This 164 mile long river can be navigated from its source in Solon Springs to its mouth just below Prescott with a portage around the dam at St. Croix Falls. The colors presented during the fall along the river are spectacular and should not be missed. Some of the best views of the river and its environs can be found at St. Croix Falls and in Interstate Park. Originally created by the outflow of Lake Superior at the end of the Glacier era, the St. Croix is a scenic wonderland.

The 98-mile Gandy Dancer recreational trail follows the old Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie railroad grade from St. Croix Falls north to Superior. This grade was commercially used for approximately 100 years starting in the late 1880s. Upon abandonment, part of the corridor was purchased by Burnett County and the State of Wisconsin for use as a recreational trail. The scenic beauty and geologic wonders of the Dalles of the St. Croix Riverway, has been hosts to residents and tourists for more than one hundred years.