Au Sable River Kayak Camping - Michigan - Chase Bridge to 4001 Bridge Landing 

Michigan is top notch..

@@BRUjank 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Everything in that section beyond Mio is great.. such a great stretch for overnighters!!

Yea if a bird landed on that thing it could have been a disaster.. definitely too much weight!

It’s an awesome river! You will have so much fun. Good one to make a video about too!!

Mainly just keep your boat pointed downstream! My kinda river..

Thanks

I’ll bet it was the best! It’s a special river.

We take leave no trace principle pretty seriously when we are out in nature, including collecting all the butts in a receptacle if you smoke! No cigs in the water with this group..

@@BRUjank Great! I pick up as much as I can when camping/hiking. Especially, little pieces of plastic and balloons.

Most don't care. They think the river is just for them. I find beer cans and trash all along the banks. I watched some little asshole empty his canoe of trash in the water.

It deserves everything. That river is amazingly beautiful.

I spent every summer growing up in Higgins lake/Roscommon and this was a yearly canoe trip back in the 70's

@@centurion726 it was pretty much a weekly thing for my parents and their friends back in the 80's/90's. I've been doing the same thing myself. I always love the opportunity to show it to new people

My Dads family is from Oscoda and Tawas, all lived on the beach of Huron, so I grew up on this river and still have so many pictures from the early to mid 90s going down in canoes. I remember my first few trips were rough because I was so little and used to the smaller Rifle river near my Grandparents cabin on my moms side and it’s a really small river compared to the Mighty AuSable. I like it because I don’t get as hung up on trees in the side where almost the giant wolf spiders build massive nests and love to hitch rides with you and bite you a few times. It’s been about 15 years since I went and my brother and I are planning a trip for next summer.

You are going to love it! Thanks for the comment.

It was an absolute blast fishaholic!! Highly recommend it.

Thanks!

I’m not positive about the mileage but I would guess around 40ish. It is one of the nicest and easiest rivers you could ask for. Highly recommend for people looking for a pleasant float!

Such a perfect river for pretty much any kayaking adventure. Cannot wait to revisit!!

Thanks!

Me - oh - my - oh that part of the state is gorgeous haha the Manistee and the au sable are 🙌 beautiful rivers. You will have a blast floating the Manistee!

Yea we packed way too much! Haha lessons learned. I have heard great things about the rivers in MO! I would definitely check them out!

I loved it there, I don’t blame ya!!

It’s honestly the best..

It was an awesome time!

Yes, both are well travelled I believe. I remember seeing some info online about the north branch.. grayling to the south branch is “the holy waters” for fly fisherman so that area is well traveled and well liked!!

I really appreciate the comment! We had so much fun.

If my memory is correct, I want to say we were on the river by like 10 am.

The Muskegon from croton to newaygo is my go-to float!! I love it.

It’s so beautiful…

SO MUCH FUN! I look forward to watching the video and re-living some memories for myself! Just remember when you finish up to reflect on the fact that the canoe marathon people do that entire stretch in about 14 hours 🤣😂🤣 I would recommend taking it a bit slower than that.. your going to have a blast!

@@BRUjank That literally blows my mind that people do that in 14 hours! lol. I have done 50 mile trips before and based off of that, I am going to give myself 6 days to do this, but I am going to allot for 7 days just to be safe. I want to enjoy it and not just paddle as fast as possible too. I'll be sure to post a comment once I get the video done!

@@BRUjank Hey man! Just wanted to say this is my new channel I was talking about. Video of the thru paddle posted! Feel free to skip around. I made it pretty long haha

Thanks

Love this… I hope you do!

Highly recommended it!!

I think if a leaf had fallen off a tree and landed on the kayak I would have been swimming…

During the summer season the sites are actually reservable and they are ten dollars. We went in September so they were first come first serve. The campgrounds are variable, but most are wooded enough for multiple hammocks I would say! The section of river below Mio dam has all national forest campgrounds that are reasonably spaced apart. So if your first choice isn’t fitting you, it’s usually not too far till the next camp.. you really shouldn’t have a problem though!! Land of the pine trees up there, hammock heaven!!

There are different rules for dispersed camping depending on if you are in state or National Forest, or wilderness/game area etc... It’s helpful to read up a bit on them if you are looking to have that kind of experience. The Manistee runs through a ton of state and national forest, I think there are lots of options for riverside camping along the upper Manistee, but I have not done this portion myself… as for the portion of Manistee below Hodenpyl dam, the camping is all marked in designated areas, but it’s abundant! So, depending on what kind of experience you want, camping shouldn’t be a problem for you along the Manistee! If you were looking to just camp anywhere along the river it helps to have an app telling you ownership of the parcel of land you are on, but these cost money.. otherwise make sure you have some idea where you are going before you embark on the adventure!! If you’re trying to make it all the way to Lake Michigan, there is not a ton of camping along the lower portions of the river, I do know that from experience..

Thanks for your comment!

That section of river was amazing. I wish everyone could experience it!

@@BRUjank I just did a day trip today, that's why I was watching you're vids the other day. What is you're favorite river in MI?

No, that first one was def a Great Blue Heron. Tell by the bill and takeoff.

Great nature everywhere up there!

I think about that chapel often.. awesome spot.

When you get to Oscoda, say HI for me to the former Wurtsmith AFB in Oscoda...thanks

@@deepwoodguy2 I've already done it! Five Channels was beautiful!!! Sorry for your luck with the pleasantries 🤣

@@letsgoracing745 👍

Funny story.. while we were paddling on this trip we were talking about forming a team and joining the canoe marathon. We thought, “how hard can it be? We can paddle all night..” Then I actually looked up a RU-vid video of the actual marathon… those people go HARD!! Haha there is no way we would’ve been able to compete 😂😂 I would love to go watch that live sometime. Maybe I will see you up there this summer!! 👍

There are some dispersed camps along the river, but there is plenty of private property too so you can’t exactly camp anywhere. If you are camping downstream from mio dam you will be in the National Forest and there is camping all along that stretch! You are going to have a blast! Enjoy.