After living in Detroit area for 27 years and making the drive between Grand Rapids and the various communities I've stayed in, you'd think I would have noticed if there was a State Park with camping. However, Island Lake State Recreation Area is somehow easily overlooked. Maybe it's location across I-96 from Kensington Metro Park, which is visible from the Expressway.
The Huron River feeds into then out of Kent Lake, that big lake visible from 96 which is bounded by Kensington Metro Park to the north. Kent Lake narrows and passes under 6 lanes of interstate and widens out into the State Recreation Area. The State Park has a sandy beach on the southern most shore and a dam that spills into the Huron River.
One can launch a canoe fairly easy at a couple different points on the river which winds through the park for several miles. Only just this year while canoeing from "Riverbend" downstream toward "Placeway", I noticed for the first time 2 clearings along the river. One with a floating Dock and the other a reasonable spot to beach a canoe.
It's a fairly easy float downstream from Riverbend to arrive at the sites. Upstream from Placeway isn't too bad when the river is low and slow like this autumn day. The river is pretty crowded with treefall in places, but it was manageable even with the over packed 14 footer I have.
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