Paddling the Chippewa River through Mount Pleasant

The river that gave the Chippewas their name winds about 92 miles across the middle of the Lower Peninsula. It starts near the village of Barryton and ends at Midland, where it joins the Tittabawassee. The friendliest stretch to paddle runs right through Mount Pleasant. It’s the rare kind of river you can hand to a beginner without a worry: gentle current, no big drops, and at least seven public access points in the county where you can put a boat in or take one out.

The float from Meridian Park down to Chipp-A-Waters Park is the classic local run — roughly four and a half miles, about two hours of easy drifting past woods and backyards. Chipp-A-Waters has a launch right on the water. From there the GKB Riverwalk, a paved and barrier-free path, follows nearly two miles of riverbank through a string of city parks. At Mill Pond Park the city built a 400-foot beginner rapids course. It’s a small set of built-in riffles, just bouncy enough to feel like an adventure and tame enough for a kid in a tube.

Outfitters in town rent canoes, kayaks, and tubes for anyone without their own boat, so a spur-of-the-moment afternoon on the water is easy. Local and regional groups have been working toward a formal state water-trail designation, with matching signs and mapped access all the way down to Midland.

Go in early autumn, when the maples lean out over the water and the river slows to a crawl. Two hours of paddling, a stretch of riverwalk, and a tube run through Mill Pond’s little rapids is about as full a river day as a landlocked county can offer.