October 12, 2026
Gillian Gainsley has served as the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy’s (EGLE) chief of staff. This week, she takes on heading the department’s Reclaim the Rivers project, recently announced by Gov. Whitmer. It’s an $89 million commitment to clean up and restore the Detroit River, Kalamazoo River and other waterways across Michigan.
Gainsley has had a keen interest in Michigan rivers throughout her life. Her goal is to is to paddle 50 rivers in Michigan! But it’s the Huron River that she’s most familiar with, having grown up in the Huron River Valley. She has twice paddled the Huron River Water Trail. In today’s edition of MI Environment, she details her paddling journey and love of Michigan’s rivers.
Fall is my favorite time to paddle. In the summer, busy schedules and hot days mean I’d rather be in the water than on it, but there’s nothing more perfect than a crisp, cool morning on the river or an afternoon fall color tour. This year, I’ve been exploring the Two Hearted and Manistique rivers in the U.P. and the Kalamazoo and Thornapple rivers in southwest Michigan, but in 2024, I paddled all 104 miles of southeast Michigan’s beautiful Huron River over five days.
Why paddle 104 miles? Because I can’t pass up a good challenge. The Huron 104 is a friendly challenge issued by the Huron River Watershed Council. Paddle the entire Huron and you receive the ultimate prize: having your name added to their website. Was it worth the weeks of planning and several days of sore backs and arms? Absolutely.
If you’re ready to hit the water this fall, or are planning a future trip, here I outline our 5-day route and share my experiences. I hope this article is helpful for people who are hoping to explore the Huron (or your own local river), whether it’s for a day or going for the full thru-paddle.
In the summer of 2023 – and again in 2024 – my friends and I took on the challenge of paddling the entire Huron river. The 104.1 mile Huron River Water Trail touches five counties, starting at Oakland County’s Kent Lake, traveling west through Livingston County’s chain of lakes region, turning back eastward to become the center of many Washtenaw and Wayne County communities, and finally ending at Lake Erie just north of Monroe.
The two summers covered the same territory in different ways. The first year, we divided the river into sections and paddled each section, a dozen or so miles at a time on weekends throughout the summer. The second year, 10 friends tackled the entire river, end to end, in 5 days. In 2025, some of the same crew completed the river in 4 days while I paddled Up North—so that route is certainly possible if you’re determined.
While it sounds daunting, the Huron River Water Trail is beautifully maintained and has lots of parks and amenities along the way that make it accessible to a wide range of people.
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I have lived most of my life in the Huron River Valley. In high school, we climbed in the Huron as part of science class to study macroinvertebrates. We’d wade in the river at Nichols Arboretum and rent canoes from Argo Livery. And as an adult, I moved to Ypsilanti and bought a home just a few blocks away from the river.
Before taking on this journey, I had never been more than a casual paddler. For most of my life, I would canoe or kayak a few times a year as a fun float. About a decade ago, my mom gave me a beat-up 10-foot Old Town Otter kayak and a paddle that she had bought at a yard sale for $60. This boat opened up a world of new options for me, and paddling became one of my favorite hobbies. Even in cities you’ve known forever, seeing them from the water gives an entirely different perspective.
Along the way, I was lucky to become friends with a great group of people that included a few true paddling enthusiasts. They provided plenty of motivation and invites to hit the river. I also had to gain some skills that had nothing to do with actually paddling a boat – how to securely tie my boat on the car rack, how to find good locations to put in and take out, how to make a float plan and figure out shuttling logistics, how to pay attention to the wind and stream gages and understand what those conditions mean on the water. None of these things are difficult in themselves, but they do take practice and are critical if you’re going to plan a long trip.
My kayak is my go-to for river trips. (I have a 14’ Vision 140 from Current Designs that is fast, holds plenty of gear, and is light enough to easily load on the car.) I enjoy canoeing and did a longer canoe trip on the Au Sable in 2025. My goal is to paddle 50 rivers in Michigan! Kayaking is great because you have so much independence, but the canoes were wonderful for a family trip where the kids could sit in the front and take breaks whenever they want.
Below, I will run through our five-day journey. The map images come from the Huron River Water Trail Map, which is maintained by the Huron River Watershed Council. I must also give huge credit to my friend Maria Goodrich, whose thorough research and planning is behind everything I’m sharing here.
We started with a relatively short first day, which allowed plenty of time for shuttling ourselves from home to the launch point and figuring out gear on our first day of setting up camp. This section starts near Milford and is mostly through Kensington Metropark. We got lucky with a light wind and sunny day in 2024—a huge contrast to my 2023 experience on Kent Lake when a strong headwind made a very tough paddle!
There were also rumors of an alligator living in Kent Lake the summer we paddled there, so we kept an eye out, but that rumor was never substantiated.
The first part of this segment through Island Lake Recreation Area is one of my favorite sections of the river, but you will need to be on your toes because there are a TON of deadfall trees in the river. The trees and obstacles make it a more technical paddle that I would not recommend to a beginner, but it’s certainly fun if you’re up for it. Kind souls have gone through and cleared a path through many areas, but there were still places where we had to ‘scoot’ over logs and help haul our friends through obstacles.
The second portion of this route visits Pinckney’s Chain of Lakes area. I personally find it harder to paddle on open water since you’re more susceptible to wind, sun, and wake from large boats. I’d recommend doing this on a weekday if possible, to avoid getting caught up in boat traffic.
This route only has one portage, right at the end at Flook Dam. There’s also a boat launch near Flook Dam on Portage Lake, which is a great place to end if you’re taking a day trip.
This was certainly our longest and most adventurous day, especially after waking up in a tent during a massive rainstorm with my mattress pad floating in 4 inches of water. Thankfully, this day ended near my home in Ypsilanti and after a very long day with lots of portages, I was able to order Thai food, shower, and sleep in my own bed!
Rainstorms aside, this is an extremely fun section of river through Dexter, Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. The river is wide and mostly free of obstacles and has a good strong current that helps push you along. Because it’s the most urban section of the route, there are plenty of city parks and places to stop and use the bathroom or explore if you want to take it slow.
Because it’s a mostly urban section of river, there are no campsites available in Ann Arbor or Ypsilanti. We were lucky to have friends and spouses willing to pick us up and give us a ride home, but if you’re from out of town you may need to make other arrangements. There are plenty of hotels, but locking or transporting your boat and gear may be a logistical challenge.
The biggest obstacles are a few long portages (see below) and the rapids. Before your trip, I would recommend driving over to the Delhi Bridge and taking a look before deciding if you want to take them on. I successfully paddled both rapids but did get a small chip in my boat to show for it.
There’s no two ways about it: this day is long. You start with a fun and breezy couple of miles through downtown Ypsilanti including Frog Island and Riverside Park (where our families planned a lovely surprise with cheering and donuts), but pretty quickly you end up slogging across the big, wide expanse of Ford Lake. And then there’s a long portage. And then the long day of Belleville Lake. And then another portage that may involve taking your life in your hands. And then, finally, you’re back in the promised land of Lower Huron Metropark and arrive at what is certainly the best-equipped campsite of this journey.
We were lucky to have a strong tail-wind as we traversed Ford and Belleville Lakes, so the day went pretty quickly. If the wind had been going the other direction, this one would been a big challenge. Belleville Lake in particular has plenty of large boats, but the lake is big enough that everyone has plenty of space, and folks were friendly and excited to see a herd of kayakers.
The last day! The longest day! Tacos! Our arms and backs and butts were very sore by this point, but this was a fun and incredibly satisfying paddle, knowing we would reach Lake Erie by day’s end.
If you’re looking for a day trip, this portion of the river is highly recommended, especially the piece through Lower Huron and Oakwoods Metroparks which is a very rustic and natural section of river that’s an easy paddle with very few obstacles. The Huron Clinton Metroparks do a fantastic job of maintaining the river in its beautiful natural state, plus offering great amenities like boat launches, bathrooms, and campgrounds which makes this section a great route for beginners and veterans alike. Atwater Tacos—which is, if you can’t tell, my absolute favorite part of this section of river—also rents kayaks, making the section below Flat Rock another great area for beginners.
Getting into Flat Rock, the Flat Rock Dam becomes the main obstacle on this trip, especially since there is no public portage available so you have to make special arrangements that are not available on weekends. I hope some day this area will be more easily passable for paddlers, but for now this one obstacle is a small price to pay for an otherwise gorgeous section of almost-unimpeded river.
And the end—oh, the end! As the river starts to widen and approach Lake Erie, you begin to see marinas and industrial areas with much larger boats. When we paddled out to Hull’s Trace and the nearby Pointe Mouillee State Game Area, we were tired, but the vision of Lake Erie in the distance motivated most of us to paddle a couple extra miles out toward the harbor. (Not all the way to the lake, of course, I would not take a recreational kayak onto a Great Lake!)
Completing this trip felt like a huge accomplishment, and it was a great experience and a way to spend nearly a week with friends and my husband doing something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.
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