Elkader's whitewater feature was built into the smaller of the town's two low-head dams on the Turkey River, added after the city's southwest side was cleared out in a flood buyout. Rather than removing the dam, engineers kept its drop and anchored massive granite boulders—four to six feet across—into the riverbed to shape one or two legit holes and waves for kayakers, tubers, and anglers. It's a play spot more than a full whitewater course, and it draws an advanced crowd willing to work the feature at the right flows. Access runs off the east bank near the Rural Heritage Museum, with a west-side entry added later.