Southeast Wisconsin RC Rock Crawling Spot - Estabrook Park - Milwaukee

[schmenzer]

I found another cool spot to drive your RC Rock Crawler in Milwaukee. It is located near Shorewood along the Milwaukee River in Estabrook Park.

I had just finished my Tamiya CR-01 Land Cruiser 40 and wanted to try a spot that I thought would be good for photos and a bit more forgiving than the rocks at South Shore or at Bradford Beach. I remembered the trails along the Milwaukee River from many mountain bike trips between North Avenue and Hampton Road along both banks of the river but one area stood out in my mind as a place with good potential for RC Rock Crawling. The specific area is in Estabrook Park on the east bank of the river. This area is popular with fisherman as it is right near a waterfall and has a nice, rocky riverbed. Fortunately, for our purposes, the rocks are not all under water!

I had a great time with the Land Cruiser and found that it performs very well on this type of limestone terrain. The way the rocks are formed leaves several levels of shelves and many areas have a very scale look when driving the Toyota.

The easiest way to get to this super spot is to enter the park from Hampton on the north and hit the first big parking lot on the right side of the road. You will know you are in the correct lot because there is a good sized kid's playground there. You will also see a building with restrooms. Just behind this building is a path with stone steps down to the river. Immediately at the bottom is a wood bridge and the rocky area around and under the bridge has some fantastic spots from easy trails to daunting rock walls. There should be plenty of terrain to keep you occupied for a long time.

If you want to take a short hike north there are several really nice climbs that go up about 60 feet vertical from the path you are on right along the river. If you go about 1/4 mile you will see a second set of stairs that take you back up and you will be able to get back to the parking lot easily by heading south on the upper bike path.

The Water Trail continues to the south as well and while I've mountain biked it many times it has been a few years and I don't remember exactly where there are more rocks but I know that there are several more spots to explore.

Just as a heads up the total length of what is referred to as the "River Trail" by mountain bikers is 11 miles, 5.5 miles on each side of the Milwaukee River and is almost entirely single track. There must be many more sections that will be good for crawling. I intend to explore more and will report back when I learn more.