Merrimac Ferry

On our way to Black River State Forest, the location of this year’s fall camping trip, we explored central Wisconsin. Our first destination was the Merrimac Ferry, the only free ferry in Wisconsin. It carries route 113 traffic across a reservoir on the Wisconsin River known as Lake Wisconsin, from Okee to Merrimac.

The ferry is named Colsac III because it is the third ferry to carry traffic from Columbia County to Sauk County. The trip lasts seven minutes. When we arrived, the ferry had just left the far shore.

It carries up to 15 cars, although there were only seven on our trip, and it travels back and forth 24 hours a day all year long except when conditions (such as ice) prevent it from operating.

The ferry is pulled by three cables, barely visible in the shot above. One can be more clearly seen in this shot as the ferry approaches the western shore.

Because the trip only lasts seven minutes there are no passenger accommodations, and most people didn’t get out of their cars. But we did.

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