Au Sable River Trail

The Au Sable River Trail departs from the campground area and follows the east branch of the Au Sable River, one of Michigan's premier cold-water trout streams and a designated Natural River protected under state law. The Au Sable here is narrow, gin-clear, and fast-moving, threading between sandy banks lined with tag alder and speckled alder where brook and brown trout hold in the shadows. The trail stays close to the river for most of its length, crossing several small tributary ravines on footbridges and passing through a mix of second-growth white pine, red pine, and mixed hardwood that replaced the logged-over landscape of a century ago. Interpretive panels along the route explain the logging era and the subsequent reforestation efforts, including a historic steam-powered sawmill site where only a few foundation stones remain among the ferns. The return leg climbs slightly away from the river onto a sandy glacial outwash plain covered in scrub oak and blueberry, where eastern towhees and field sparrows sing from the brush. The combination of river access, logging history, and diverse habitat types makes this trail a richer experience than its modest elevation gain suggests.