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Flood damage from this month’s storms will keep Wildcat Mountain State Park near Ontario closed for at least another week.

“It’s going to be nip and tuck,” said Ron Campbell, park manager.

Located along Hwy. 33 near Ontario, the park sustained significant damage in the wake of this month’s flooding, Campbell said. He hopes to reopen the park by June 29.

“We’re going day by day as far as progress on repairs,” said Lenore Schroeder, team supervisor at Wildcat Mountain.

One lane of the park’s main road is closed after being washed out, Campbell said. About one-third of the 15 miles of horse trails have been destroyed, plus picnic areas have been washed out and the hiking trail damaged.

“Mostly trees fell down on the hiking trail, and we have to cut those away,” he said.

State and regional field teams arrived this week to help clear debris and shovel mud, Schroeder said. She also oversees the 400, La Crosse River and Elroy-Sparta state trails.

“There was less significant damage on the La Crosse end of the trail systems, but it was heavier the further east we got,” she said.

Schroeder said it will cost a minimum of $100,000 to open the park’s main road. That doesn’t include the repairs needed within the park.

“We’re scrambling to get the numbers together now to do the appropriate requests for (relief) money,” she said.

The extended closure of the park means a loss of revenue, she said, and while that concerns her, the negative effect on the community also is felt.

“It really trickles down quite a bit,” she said, “and there’s a huge ripple in the pond.”

The ripple was felt at Drifty’s Canoe Rental and the Kickapoo Paddle Inn, said owner Tony Kelbel, but that’s not stopping business.

“We’re going to be up and running,” Kelbel said. “All three canoe rental places in town are now open. People are out and enjoying themselves.”

Kelbel said three to four miles of the Kickapoo River are passable, and the Paddle Inn root beer stand will be open this weekend.

Colin Winchell, who is in charge of canoe rentals at Drifty’s, said he’s been able to retrieve most of the more than 100 canoes swept up by the flood.

“I’m still knee deep in mud,” Winchell said. “I’m still fishing canoes out of the trees 5 feet and up.”

Winchell would normally rent out 12 to 20 canoes per weekday at this time of the year, he said, and up to 30 or 40 per day on the weekends. But business has been slow this week.

“Most people generally come from far away,” he said, “and they see (the flooding) on the news and they think we’re going to be shut down for a month. But, no, the water goes down after about two days.”