Morrall River Films guide the Illinois and Wisconsin paddlers

  Mark Morrall of Morrall River Films on Badfish Creek
  photo courtesy of Morrall River Films

Morrall River Films provides great guides for the Illinois and Wisconsin paddlers.  When the organizers of the Aurora Paddlesport Festival asked Mark Morrall to coordinate the Illinois Prairie Paddling Film Festival they choose a good man. Mark Morrall and his wife Merri have spent the last several years filming the rivers of Northern Illinois, Southern Wisconsin, and now Northern Wisconsin to provide a video guide for canoeists and kayakers.

It all started on a canoe trip on the Little Wolf River a few years ago in Southern Wisconsin. The Morralls had never canoed this river before and did not know what to expect. There are various guide books out there, but guide books on rivers can quickly become obsolete and as Mark mentioned on the phone, a canoeist does not really know what to expect until they are actually on the water.

A light bulb went off in Mark’s head that it would be a great idea to film the rivers and provide a video guide for people who have never been on the river. Morrall River Films was born and he has been hard at work ever since and has produced two DVDS. One is on the rivers of Southern Wisconsin and the other is on the rivers of Northern Illinois, and he is currently hard at work on the rivers of Northern Wisconsin.

One who has not canoed may wonder why there is a need for such a guide. Canoeing a new river is not the same as a maiden voyage in other adventure travel sports. A hiker to a new trail is most likely only going to find a trail just like many others. There are some trails more dangerous than others, but most hiking trails are similar.

Rivers are completely different as there are many variables to consider. Are there rapids, how fast is the current, are there dangerous deadfalls, are there portages are all aspects of a river to consider and they need to be weighed against the experience level of the canoeist. These are some of the questions that Mark tackles in his river video guides. Morrall River Films also provides information on put ins and take outs, directions, water levels, and scenery.

The author can attest to the perils of a scouting trip. Once on a Prairie State Canoe trip on the Kickapoo River in Southern Wisconsin the author and his father were talked into a scouting trip on a stretch of the river not usually paddled. It was a nightmare as there were logjams that had to be portaged around every bend. These portages were not accompanied with convenient places to land and easy trails. Instead there were muddy banks and insect infested high grassy fields that we had to hack our way through.

We did not get off the river until 8pm that day and bats were circling over head as we finally made the take out. Read this account for a similar experience on the Kickapoo. I sure wish we had Morrall River Films as a guide on that day. Lo and behold, the Kickapoo is one of the rivers featured in the Rivers of Southern Wisconsin.

The Morrall River Films DVDS can be purchased on their website or on Amazon. They can also be followed on Facebook. Buy one of the guides by Morrall River Films and they will let you know what to expect on the rivers of Illinois and Wisconsin. Mark will be presenting his films and how to film this weekend at the Illinois Prairie Paddling Film Fest at the Aurora Paddlesports Festival.

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