Kayaking the Rouge River - Southeast Michigan

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Kayaking the Rouge River - Southeast Michigan

[@waynehowell431]

thanks so much for putting this together. I practically grew up on the rouge, with my brother and friends. The one constant in our lives was the river. a friend once hopped a train and was crossing over the train r

[@TheGreatOutdoors]

You're very welcome. I enjoyed kayaking it, be it in Dearborn, Detroit, Westland, etc. So many great waterways here - Detroit River, Huron River, inland lakes. I tried to find and kayak them all. 👍

[@GTVAlfaMan]

We used to play near the banks of the Rouge River in the mid 1960’s. I remember seeing large swarms of giant carp fish almost 3ft long mating near the riverbank. Also the Rouge was redirected and drained and two old cars were found under the Greenfield bridge in Melvindale. Bones were found in the car belong to three people missing since the 1930’s after they left the Hollywood Bar in Melvindale,

[@markreutter2316]

Great video Really enjoyed it

[@TheGreatOutdoors]

Thanks. 👍 I love to hike and kayak all along the Rouge and can't wait for the warmer weather to get here!

[@NateBuker]

Hey, I left Detroit back when anyone in their right mind wouldn't touch this river, yeah I was in the inner city too and didn't do what I do now but seriously this is fantastic. I appreciate this cobbling together of footage that spans seasons and it actually makes me want to come back to do these paddles but I now live a continent away. That says a lot cuz I find the region pretty depressing nowadays, so good job repping the area. I loved the background info you put up in text early on. I have a lot to talk about regarding the place you put in at the beginning. I have an old friend still in the city who's a kayaking enthusiast. If you are still in the area then I think you guys should get together. He goes other places too. I had to sub cuz of this video. You can find me on my socials on my YT page. I'll make intro between you and him. Of course you can talk to me too. It was a long video and I dropped off near the end but yeah this was cool.

[@TheGreatOutdoors]

Thank you for the comment! I spent my 30s and 40s looking for any new lake or river to kayak here in SE Michigan. It was a lot of fun. At this point, I'm finding the desire and need to travel to new places for new adventures (I get bored doing the same things). Kayaking has really gotten popular around here in the last 10 years. Great to see. I just subscribed to your channel and will check out the videos 👍

[@NateBuker]

@@TheGreatOutdoors Thanks for the sub!

[@kennethlindsley2744]

I currently have started working on paddling all the paddle able areas of all 4 branches of the Rouge. At this point on the main I've paddled Firefighters park in Troy but only a quarter mile downstream at most from the road that the entrance is on. I've also covered the area between the dam and the Detroit River. On the Lower branch I've covered the municipal golf course through Ford Field Park to the main branch and I'm aware that Friends of the Rouge maintains a section in Wayne. As far as the middle branch goes I have covered Newburgh to Plymouth Road. Nankin Lake up to Wayne Road and Levan street up to the the Newburgh dam. I'm expecting to close that gap in between in the next week or 2. On the Upper Branch I've only done 2 tiny areas in a park of 7 mile road and another in Farmington. I checked out the area around Lola Valley disc golf course and thats pretty much open and I plan to do that tomorrow. Wondering if you know any other potential launch locations.

[@TheGreatOutdoors]

That's amazing and awesome. The upper branch is where I still need to go sometime.

[@kennethlindsley2744]

@@TheGreatOutdoors I actually finished in 2022. Mapped out what I could and could not paddle. What I could not do had more to do with the rivers not being accessible due to private property than anything else. With that said I was able to paddle about 1/3 of the upper, 2/3 of the middle, 1/2 of the lower and 1/2 the main branches. I love trying to complete rivers whether I'm paddling or just scouting them from beginning to end. So far besides The Rouge branches I've completed the 3 Clinton branches, The 3 Ecorse branches, The Salt, Huron River, Portage River (Hell's Creek), The Rifle, Crystal, The Platte, Milk what little there is, Detroit, St. Clair and a lot of little creeks and drains. I'm shooting for the Raisin next.

[@Globerson]

I recently picked up my own kayak and I live right off the Middle Branch (I back up to it from my home) and have been thinking about putting in right there but wasn’t sure how safe/clean the water is. I go to Newburgh lake which is obviously going to be cleaner because it bakes in the sun all day but I’m not sure about the river itself. I’d love to chat about your experience and what you think of the water quality

[@TheGreatOutdoors]

I've always wanted to live on a river. There are parts of the Huron River in Rockwood that I like a lot. I can't speak to water quality i n the Rouge in any official way as I don't know the science. All I can share is my anecdotal experiences. I had the same concerns of the Rouge when I first started kayaking it. I heard Newburgh Lake was dredged in 1998 to remove toxins. The Rouge more in the River Rouge area caught fire 50 years ago. After 10-15 years of kayaking nearly every nook and cranny of the Rouge (many areas every year) I've never gotten sick or even had a rash (I enter the water with water shoes). But maybe I'm just lucky. I'd personaly not swim in or ingest anything from about Melvindale to Zug Island, but I love kayaking there and all of the Rouge. I just launched the other day from downtown Wayne. Something about the Ecorse River in Lincoln Park actually made me more nervous, but that went fine too. Two Michigan U.S. representatives also kayaked the area down around Dearborn/River Rouge/Zug Island last year to highlight the years of environmental cleanup of the river since the fire 50 years ago.

[@detroitjim1]

You neglected to mention that in 1985, a guy fell in the Rouge, swallowed some water and died as a result.

[@TheGreatOutdoors]

I recall reading of that. He was 23 years old and died of Leptospirosis, as you noted, from drinking the water after falling in. I suspect the water is quite a bit cleaner now. I read in a Free Press article that 5.93 million gallons of oil were dumped into the Rouge and Detroit rivers each year from 1946 to 1948. And for years municipalities dumped raw sewage into the river, which led to waterborne illness, including a cholera outbreak so bad in 1834, it killed 7% of Detroit. Today, the Rouge River and Detroit River are among my favorite places to kayak 👍 And I swim in the Detroit River at Belle Isle often - seems quite clear at the beach there. Heading out tomorrow to Clinton River. Stay safe!

[@detroitjim1]

@@TheGreatOutdoors I suppose that it is a bit cleaner . Next time we get a good rain go here miwaters.deq.state.mi.us/miwaters/external/overflow/list. You'll see how much still gets dumped into the rouge. You can specifically search for discharges into the river by clicking the down chevron directly below the sign in tab. It's in the box to the right of "Filter CSO/SSO List" Type "rouge river" in the receiving waters box. You don't have to sign in to view the data.Until the report is completed you won't see estimated quantities.

[@SLOWPEEK]

can you use a trolling motor on the rouge?

[@TheGreatOutdoors]

I would think so. I myself would launch down river on the Rouge closer to the Detroit River behind the Melvindale Civic Arena near AK Steel or Belanger Park in River Rouge (both sites have a boat launch) I would use a trolling motor on a small boat on the Rouge. I've seen bigger boats go around Zug Island in the river there. The more upstream you go of course the shallower it gets but after U of M Dearborn down to Zug Island is deep.

[@SLOWPEEK]

@@TheGreatOutdoors Thats what I thought. I bank fish behind the Melvindale Arena a lot but kinda want to take the jon boat on it to hit the vegetation I cant reach accros the way. I only saw no motorboat regulation for rouge river for the connecting lakes in Livonia area

[@HighPowerOptionsTrades]

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