The Au Sable River: Crawford County's claim to fame

If Crawford County is famous for one thing, it’s the Au Sable River. The main branch is born here — it starts just north of Frederic and runs south to Grayling. There it bends east and begins its long journey to Lake Huron. (In a neat twist of geography, the Manistee River rises right alongside it near Frederic, then turns the other way toward Lake Michigan.) The Au Sable’s North, South, and East branches all wind through the county too. Much of that water is flies-only, catch-and-release trout water.

The stretch just east of Grayling is known as the “Holy Waters.” It’s one of the most storied trout-fishing reaches in the country, with cold, clear water, gravel bottoms, and famous insect hatches. Fly fishing here runs so deep that Trout Unlimited was founded on this river back in 1959. The county and its city are even named for the Michigan grayling. That beautiful native fish once filled the river by the thousands, before logging and overfishing wiped it out around a century ago. Every July, Grayling sends paddlers off on the Au Sable River Canoe Marathon — an overnight, 120-mile race down to Lake Huron. It’s the same river they follow downstream past Mio Pond to its mouth at Oscoda.

For property buyers, the river is a huge draw — but riverfront comes with things to check. Where does your land meet the water? What’s the septic setup on older places (see the well-and-septic note)? And what are the special fishing rules on flies-only stretches? It’s hard to overstate how central this river is to life here.