MLive says: “It's the full state park experience at Island Lake Recreation Area. There are paved and unpaved paths for hiking, biking, snowmobiling and more. You'll find four boat launches, places to swim, campgrounds and picnic shelters within the park. There is forest area as well as meadows. Bonus: It has the only hot air balloon port in the state parks system.”
June 19-20, 2021
I called ahead to talk to park staff about the possibility of kayak camping at this particular stay - you see, Island Lake Recreation Area has two paddle-in campsites along the Huron River. They’re usually used by through-paddlers, but I was curious to try out paddle-in kayak camping for the first time. I was in luck, as the smaller of the two sites was available this particular weekend. I was eager as could be to get out on the water.
When I got to the park to confirm my reservation and get some tips on where to drop in to the river, the park staff person I interacted was totally SHOCKED that I would ever venture out on my own, especially on the river to go camping! Once we got over the initial surprise, we made a makeshift overnight parking permit for my car and I headed down the park road. I drove past my put-in point at first to visit Island Lake, the park’s namesake. It was an underwhelming, shallow, and murky inland lake; but, it did indeed have two small islands! I opened up the car and laid out my tent to dry (it had caught some rain the night before) while I relaxed by the lake.
I was extremely eager to get out paddling, so once my tent had thoroughly dried out I packed it back up properly and pointed my car back in the direction of the kayak launch. When I arrived, I realized the kayak launch was actually a steep and muddy slope into the river - fun! I pulled my car up, unloaded my kayak (it is hilarious to watch this 5’4” woman load and unload her ten foot kayak alone, so I’ve been told), and got to packing.
As this was my first time kayak camping, and it was just one night, I tried to pack super light : I only had one watertight storage compartment on board, after all. I managed to get everything in there except for my camera backpack. Luckily, that pack is waterproof so I strapped it to the outside and pushed my boat down the slope. After a few quick adjustments, I was underway. The sky was pretty dark and cloudy when I started my paddle and I worried it would rain, but luckily the rain held off and I was sunny smooth sailing to my campsite in no time.
The first thing I noticed about the Huron River is that it is incredibly shallow - I felt a little silly in my lifejacket in a staggering 20 inches of water (when I was lucky). There were sandbars throughout my trip that breached the surface, and I got caught on the sandy riverbottom more than a few times. There were also a significant number of downed trees that created remarkably fun obstacles to paddle around and through. It was a challenging paddle that required a lot of attention, in order to not hit/get stuck on/trap myself in branches and trees and river weeds. I definitely did get stuck a few times, trying to take photos from my boat and drifting into things. It was an absolutely perfect day to be out on the river, and I hardly saw another person until the end of the paddle when I was nearing the campsite. It was only about 1.5 miles to paddle in, all and all, so I was able to take my upriver route at a slow and relaxed pace.
The campsites are marked from the river, and were super easy to locate. I found mine, unloaded my boat, and set up camp. I took some time to walk around a bit and explore the area around the campsite - it was outfitted with one vault toilet and not much else!
After setting up my little campsite, I decided to hop back in my boat and see what else was upstream. I paddled for another hour or so, exploring more of the river. I enjoyed following a great blue heron upriver: they flew from downed tree to downed tree, revealing themself every couple dozen yards or so. It was a fun game of hide and seek until they moved inland off the riverfront.
After my extended paddle, I headed back to camp and had a quick tasty dinner and nestled into my tent (to avoid the bugs) to read and journal. It was an insanely relaxing night until dark…when the fireworks started up! I thought I might escape them camping, but no such luck. I drifted off to sleep and woke up again more than a few times, getting a piecemeal sleep that night.
After a quick breakfast the next morning, I packed up my camp, loaded the ‘yak, and hit the river! My downstream paddle was QUICK - I was out of the water in no time at all. I did take some time to appreciate the perfect morning I was gifted and snapped some photos on my way back.
After I got back to the kayak launch, I had some snacks and got things loaded back onto and into the car. I headed toward the opposite end of the park, near Kent Lake, and hit the hiking trails. I wanted to love this trail so much - it was beautiful and covered multiple ecosystem types, and circled a lake with small beaches. HOWEVER, Island Lake Rec Area has a gun range right next to Kent Lake at the hiking trailhead…I could not relax into my hike at all, as I could hear very frequent gunshots no matter how far I went down that trail. The views were gorgeous though, so I tried to make the best of it.
I eventually felt really fatigued by the gunshots, so I took a shortcut back to the trailhead and skipped the majority of the loop I had intended to hike - I finished off my weekend with a dip in the lake to cool off, then packed up the car and hit the road for home.