Kayak Camping On The Huron River Water Trail
Kayaking the Huron River Water Trail has been a bucket list item for our friend group that we finally accomplished Labor Day weekend, 2020. Although the full trail is 104 miles, we started around the halfway point of Hudson Mills Metropark. There’s a variety of paddling experiences to be had on this trail, from rapids, to fish jumping in boats, to slow moving lakes, you’re in for a treat! Due to water levels, this trail took longer than we anticipated and the portages in Wayne County were rough to navigate. Despite the many troubles we had, it was an enjoyable experience and I hope you can learn from our mistakes!
Day 1
We started our trip at Hudson Mills Metropark, Dexter, Michigan. The beginning of our trip was full of wildlife, we saw deer, bald eagles, muskrats, cranes, turtles, and other water animals! We may have been overzealous and pushed ourselves 31 miles our first day. This was a wild section (and probably my most favorite) of our trip. We experienced multiple rapids where our canoe got stuck once and then my own kayak got stuck.
Our first portage, Barton Portage, did have a ramp and was a wonderful stop for a snack. There’s a small dock on the right-hand side of the dam. During the summer, this is a popular tanning dock and you may experience college students blocking the portage. The walk down was lengthy, but the ramps did help! There were a few picnic tables, but we mostly grabbed our easy-to-go stacks and hit the water again. There was no time to waste day 1.
After the rapids in Ann Arbor, we had to break to empty our kayaks! I’ve always tubed the Argo Rapids, so it was fun to experience it as a kayaker. Thankfully it was closed to swimmers the time we went through, but keep in mind that it may be full of swimmers and tubers when you plan your trip.
The Gallup Park dam was a trek! It took a while for us to walk our two kayaks and a canoe around the portage. But right afterwards, you can see a huge estate owned by the Ford Family which was amazing to witness. Superior Dam was a simple maneuver, you just have to go over a hill and you’re back in the water.
Our last dam of the day was Peninsula Paper Dam. This one was lengthier as well, but simple to navigate. We were beginning to lose light quickly by this time, however, and were nervous to be on the water this late at night. Thankfully our life vests had reflectors, but be sure to check your water equipment for night safety.
The whole day took us 14 hours.
Day 2
We backcountry camped night one. After a full night of rest, breakfast, and some instant coffee, we were back in high spirits and ready to tackle day two! We didn’t know the struggles that would lie ahead however…
Day two covered 13 miles, which doesn’t seem too long but it was all lake and very little rapids. If you are kayaking through the Belleville lakes, be mindful that boats apparently are against kayaks and canoes in ‘their’ lake. They attempted to flip us and slow us down, which made this stretch the longest stretch yet.
After experiencing the first portage, we had to call in reinforcements for the second one because it was a 1,000ft walk. It took us what felt like forever to move our boats through the first portage. After our second portage, we just had our driver drop us off at our campsite in Huron Metropark since it would be simpler (and we got to spend time with our baby before leaving her for the water again).
Day 3
Day 3 and our last day, will we make it to Lake Erie?
We ended up losing a companion because the whole trip was too much for his immune system and ended up overworking it. Thankfully that’s all it was and he didn’t get sick! He sounded very rough when we went home and we were worried.
We have 26 miles left today, all river, and only one dam. The Huroc Portage was another tricky portage to navigate. You essentially had to walk the whole strip of the park with your boats. It did make a nice stop to break for lunch, however!
We ended up only traveling 15 miles and cutting our trip short. We probably could have finished the last few miles, but we were getting tired and homesick. Although we didn’t make it to the end, the lessons we learned, things we seen, and amount we did accomplish will be treasured forever.
We missed this goofball!!