# Multi-day Trips



## enso

Hey everyone!

This is my first post so I'm glad to be a part of this community.

I'm planning to take my dad on a multi-day kayak trip. We'd prefer a river and like to camp along its banks. The problem is everything I'm finding on the internet are guided tours or something similar and they want hundreds of dollars for the type of trip we are planning.

Any suggestions on where we could do it the good ol' fashioned way? 

Thanks


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## brookie~freak

Do you want to stay in Michigan? What type of river would you like to float, whitewater or slower flat water? Wilderness or close to roads/civilization? Do you want to catch fish or just paddle?

Wherever you decide to go you shouldn't have to pay a "guide" hundreds of dollars for something you can do DIY with adequate planning, especially if its here in Michigan. Might have to pay to have vehicles spotted but thats about it.

My brother Wabakimi07 and I can suggest several trip ideas/destinations if you are more specific.


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## enso

brookie~freak said:


> Do you want to stay in Michigan? What type of river would you like to float, whitewater or slower flat water? Wilderness or close to roads/civilization? Do you want to catch fish or just paddle?
> 
> Wherever you decide to go you shouldn't have to pay a "guide" hundreds of dollars for something you can do DIY with adequate planning, especially if its here in Michigan. Might have to pay to have vehicles spotted but thats about it.
> 
> My brother Wabakimi07 and I can suggest several trip ideas/destinations if you are more specific.



Awesome, thanks for the response. And yeah, I should have been more specific.

We were looking for just a fairly easy going-fishing river, as far from civilization as we can get where we can camp near the riverbank. And yes, in Michigan.


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## brookie~freak

The Ausable or Manistee would be a good choice for a multi-day trip. Not much of a wilderness setting but nice scenery nonetheless and good fishing.

In the UP, the Escanaba would be a fun float with much more of a wilderness setting. I've never floated it but always wanted to. 
We usually head to Canada for week long canoe/portage trips so I don't spend much time on Mich. rivers anymore other than fishing.


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## djmoore34

I did a three day trip with both my sons on the Pere Marquette (PM). Very scenic river with good fishing depending on the time of year. Plenty of maps available online with float times, etc. Ivan's canoe did the vehicle spot for us.


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## redneckdan

the two hearted is a fun trip, there a quite a few portages over beaver dams. I've been planning for a few years now a trip down the ontonagon.


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## RGROSE

Did a three day trip on the ausable with our scouts last summer. Starting in downtown Grayling, went to detour, but you can continue down to lake huron if you wish, campgrounds all the way down.


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## djmoore34

Here is a link that I found detailing someones float trip on the PM.

http://www.paddling.net/places/showReport.html?1551

This may help some.


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## DaBeuk

I did a two-night trip on the Ausable with my son a few years ago. We drove up and camped along the river downstream from Grayling. Fished at our campground on Friday night. Saturday we left our camp set up, drove to a canoe livery in Grayling - they spotted our vehicle downstream from our camp. We then kayaked and fished our way to our campsite, spent Saturday night there, packed up Sunday morning and completed the trip to our vehicle. Was a really nice trip and required us to only set up camp once.


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## PikeLaker

> the two hearted is a fun trip, there a quite a few portages over beaver dams


Two Hearted is a great trip. From the Reed/Green Bridge to the mouth usually doesn't have any portages. Have not been upstream of Reed/Green though...heard it gets hairy (portage wise) in that stretch.

RedneckDan, I have a post regarding location of the canoe camp on the Two-Hearted, don't know if you saw it (the post) have you seen it/ know where it is? I'll PM you.


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## redneckdan

I responded to you pm and I'm also going to post in the other thread.


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## BrookTrout2

I floated Pere Marquette river from M37 to Lake MI/Ludington first week in May in 2009. Started on a Friday afternoon about 1pm and arrived in Ludington at 11am Sunday. It was a lot of paddling. . . An easier trip would be M37 to Scottville. Easy camping with lots of public land along the river. Great trip. Going to do a trip this year on the upper Manistee this year.


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## CHUCK n BUCK

I really want to do that PM float trip this summer...canoe, fish, and camp for about three days!!


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## T-Wrangler

You shouldn't have any problem piecing together a trip down the Ausable for a couple of days without a guide. I did 5 days solo from Grayling to Oscoda without one, only using the internet and a canoeing Michigan book to plan it. 

Anyone canoe the upper Fox in the U.P.? I've read that it can get overgrown and blocked with fallen trees, but I'd love to hear from anyone who has spent time up there recently.


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## Redone

Done multiple sets of weekenders from M72 all the way to Hodenpyle..

Depends on what you like, the fishing is great from CCC to about Smithville, for hardware and the same above CCC but I believe it's feathers only above CCC

Usually less of a crowd on the Manistee.

If pictures and hunting are more your cup of tea, the float from Smithville to Baxter is awesome for fall colors and jump hunting ducks moving through.

If big backwaters are what you like, you can spend days in the area around Hodenpyle


The actual camps I can think between M72 and Baxter Bridge are CCC, Three Mile, Sharon Bridge, Smithville, 131 and Baxter (but it's a pretty long stretch between the last two)

There's literally hundreds of little spots along the river to pack down and overnight if you choose that path also..

Best of Luck!


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## Hoosier Daddy

T-Wrangler said:


> You shouldn't have any problem piecing together a trip down the Ausable for a couple of days without a guide. I did 5 days solo from Grayling to Oscoda without one, only using the internet and a canoeing Michigan book to plan it.
> 
> Anyone canoe the upper Fox in the U.P.? I've read that it can get overgrown and blocked with fallen trees, but I'd love to hear from anyone who has spent time up there recently.


 
I did a solo trip on the Fox three years ago an had the spotting service drop me off pretty far up in the upper section. The spotter mentioned that he did not know of anyone floating this section in quite sometime and I maybe in for some downed trees. Being young and ambitious it did not phase me. I found out the hard way. It was a very strenious and physically demanding trip, but I lived to tell about it and would probably do it again just a little better prepared.


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## CHUCK n BUCK

Hoosier, did you do any fishing on the fox while floating it?

I've been researching and planning my trip for this summer. I'm wanting to do a two night canoe/fishing/camping expedition down the PM around the end of June/1st of July. Very excited about it. All I need to buy is a small 2 person tent, something that I can pack away in the canoe easily. We want to trout fish the river pretty hard so we will be stopping fairly often and wading. From the looks of the maps that I've been studying I'm thinking about doing the float from Gleasons Landing to Walhalla Bridge. Only thing that needs to be determinded is where to camp during the two nights. Not really wanting to stay at any big campground just isolated camping spots on public land, such as the camping area at Sulak.

This map here is really helpful as far as the PM goes! 
http://www.fishweb.com/maps/lake/pere_marquette_rv/index.html


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## salmonslammer

Chuck n buck.... We did the fox a couple of times and did decent on the brookies.

Word of advice... Tons of tag elders along the shores. Bring a STRONG gripping spring clamp with u and then u can clip off to em and fish.

And bring lots of bug dope! A head net may be a life saver as well... All depends how bad they are!

Have fun!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## CHUCK n BUCK

For anyone that has floated and camped on the PM, where did you camp at? I'm getting close to making my trip and need to figure out where i'm gonna stay for two nights. I'm starting at Gleason's and going to Walhalla. Is there any public camping area around Rainbow Rapids? By the looks of my county map its all private land around that area. If not, I'll either have to make the first day short(5 miles) and camp at Bowmans Bridge or make the first day long(20 miles) and camp at Sulak. Rainbow Rapids would put me at (15 miles) the first day, which would be perfect.

Any feed back would be greatly appreciated!!


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## salmonslammer

> Is there any public camping area around Rainbow Rapids?


There used to be a USFS campground about a mile from the launch...... not sure if its open still or not. 

Was about a 3 mile float to the next bridge and a mile bike ride back to the car. Lots of private land on the PM... Can be hard to find decent spots to camp...

ud be much better off on the manistee if u want to paddle and camp.


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