What area near Madison can I get acerage & waterfront for 250k

[Dusty8940]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I think finding acerage and water front may not be possible anywhere close to Madison. However, after doing a search for water front properties within 20 miles on Realtor.Com their are 77 properties on the water. Some of these include; Lake Wisconsin, Yahara River, Rice Lake, Sugar River, Rock River, Lake Koshkonong, & the Wisconsin River. Is anyone familiar with any of these? Are any of these good for Water skiing, sand bars, fishing etc. Thanks

[Drover]

Originally Posted by Dusty8940

Thanks everyone for the replies. I think finding acerage and water front may not be possible anywhere close to Madison. However, after doing a search for water front properties within 20 miles on Realtor.Com their are 77 properties on the water. Some of these include; Lake Wisconsin, Yahara River, Rice Lake, Sugar River, Rock River, Lake Koshkonong, & the Wisconsin River. Is anyone familiar with any of these? Are any of these good for Water skiing, sand bars, fishing etc. Thanks

Where on the Yahara River? Yahara is the river that links a handful of lakes together, including Lake Mendota and Lake Monona, the two lakes that surround downtown Madison. If you're on a navigable part of the river, you'll have access to these two lakes and Lake Kegongsa and Lake Wabesa. The suitability of these lakes for fishing and waterskiing is somewhat questionable thanks to industrial pollution, agricultural runoff, and the resultant algae blooms that plague the lakes starting in early to mid summer. Sand bars? Mmmm.... not so much.

Some parts of the Wisconsin River are suitable for waterskiing, depending on how close you are to Lake Wisconsin, which is really just a wide part of the river. Plenty of sand bars, particularly on the portion just north of the lake. The downside is Lake Wisocnsin can get massively crowded on weekends. Don't know much about the quality of fishing on the river or in Lake Wisconsin.

Rock River.... don't think I've ever seen anyone waterskiing on it. It's probably wide enough and deep enough for it technically.... but a less than ideal environment for water skiing.

Rice Lake in Dane County (there's more than one Rice Lake in the state) is an oversized mud puddle.

Don't know much about the rest.

[JoshB]

Have you tried Crystal Lake up by Lodi?

[Megan1967]

Actually, the Rock-Aqua Jays ski on the Rock River....

But all I can ever think of when I hear about it is EW. It is a really grungy, stinky river.

[ranger17]

Originally Posted by Dusty8940

Thanks everyone for the replies. I think finding acerage and water front may not be possible anywhere close to Madison. However, after doing a search for water front properties within 20 miles on Realtor.Com their are 77 properties on the water. Some of these include; Lake Wisconsin, Yahara River, Rice Lake, Sugar River, Rock River, Lake Koshkonong, & the Wisconsin River. Is anyone familiar with any of these? Are any of these good for Water skiing, sand bars, fishing etc. Thanks

as noted, and depending on how each summer plays out, any waters in the Madison chain of lakes can and have had issues with water clarity, algae bloom, etc which is a shame as they are nice bodies of water for recreation. Some years were ok, but others had serious issues with the algae, actual health concerns including for pets. And any hard flooding brings no-wake zones to the lakes, curbing any boating you may want to try. The Wisconsin River/Lake Wisconsin 'may' be cleaner as far as weeds are concerned (except for the shallows and bays of course) and may also give more options that you are looking for.

One site i used frequently for fishing info when we lived up there is Lake-Link, Find A Lake In Wisconsin
You can find &click on near any lake in the state on there, and while it may be a fishing-based website you'd be surprised the amount of general info you can either read or request from those who use it.

[JoshB]

Originally Posted by ranger17

as noted, and depending on how each summer plays out, any waters in the Madison chain of lakes can and have had issues with water clarity, algae bloom, etc which is a shame as they are nice bodies of water for recreation. Some years were ok, but others had serious issues with the algae, actual health concerns including for pets. And any hard flooding brings no-wake zones to the lakes, curbing any boating you may want to try. The Wisconsin River/Lake Wisconsin 'may' be cleaner as far as weeds are concerned (except for the shallows and bays of course) and may also give more options that you are looking for.

One site i used frequently for fishing info when we lived up there is Lake-Link, Find A Lake In Wisconsin
You can find &click on near any lake in the state on there, and while it may be a fishing-based website you'd be surprised the amount of general info you can either read or request from those who use it.

I love using Lake Link too. Great source of information. They have forums too!

[mrs.cool]

Actually, Drover, you can't get to Kegonsa from Mendota/Monona/Waubesa, unless you're in a canoe. The Yahara's never been dredged out that far.
And the Rock River's not bad at all, it's nice and wide at Newville, which is the mouth of Lake Koshkonong. I've seen water skiiers there. Koshkonong is pretty shallow, but still navigable. And the properties are going to be cheaper than on the "Madison lakes".
My problem with boating the Wisconsin River is it's constantly changing and I'm always afraid of hitting a stump or sandbar that wasn't there last time.