Huron River in Michigan

Trip Overview

Huron River - Island Lake State Park

First trip on this section of the Huron River, we put in at the "Huron River Site" fishing access/canoe launch. It has ample parking and room to launch.

The river was flowing at a very easy rate on this day. The river is relaxing and a very easy paddle for the most part. We only encountered a couple downed trees that were relatively easy to get around prior to the Riverbend access.

We noted quite a few boats were pulling out at Riverbend. After we passed we realized why, there were numerous downed trees/branches from there on, particularly in the vicinity of the canoe camps. Kayaks had a very easy time maneuvering around or over the obstructions. We were paddling a 16' canoe and had to do some serious positioning to get lined up just right to get thru some of the tight S's. One of them having a serious "limbo" log in the middle. Beginners may experience some difficulty getting around or end up banging the boat up a bit.

The river opened up very nicely prior to our take out at "Placeways." Placeways has paved parking, picnic area, pit toilet and a drive to load/unload adjacent to the river. There are bike paths that allow you to spot a bike to get back to your rig if you dont want to take two vehicles.

Overall trip took about three hours.

Fees:

State Park pass required for entry in this section

Directions:

http://www.michigandnr.com/Publications/PDFS/RecreationCamping/Island_lake_map.pdf

Resources:

We used the DNR map noted in the directions above and the following metropark map (pdf file):
www.metroparks.com/uploads/file/Publications/huron%20river%20map.pdf