Sauk River — Cold Spring to St. Cloud: River Level Today — Can You Paddle It?

At 126 cfs the Sauk River is inside the runnable range but only 28 cfs above the 98 cfs floor, so it is sitting at the shallow end of what this reach runs at. A dry few days would take it under.

Over the last 24 hours it has barely moved, 135 cfs to 126 cfs. Daily means over the past 7 days have run between 128 cfs and 147 cfs, ending roughly where it started.

Sauk River at Cold Spring to St. Cloud is a Class I run in Minnesota — easygoing moving water with light riffles and nothing technical. Most paddlers put in at Cold Spring access and take out at St. Cloud (confluence access).

Whether it's worth the drive comes down to flow. This section generally paddles well at 98–1,200 cfs. Much below that and the Sauk River gets low and bony, so you end up scraping gravel and walking the shallows; well above the top of the range it turns fast, cold and pushy, which is a more serious day than most casual boaters want. We read USGS gauge 05270500 about every 30 minutes and compare the live number to that window, so the verdict at the top of this page reflects conditions right now rather than a monthly average.

Flows here are usually most dependable April–September. Spring can run high after rain or snowmelt, and late summer often drops too low to float well — but the gauge always beats the calendar, so check today's reading before you go.