The Huron: a National Water Trail runs through it

The river that strings together Dexter, Scio Township, Ann Arbor, and Ypsilanti isn’t just scenery — it’s one of America’s named National Water Trails. The Huron River Water Trail earned that federal designation as a paddle route of more than a hundred miles from the Oakland County lakes down to Lake Erie, and the stretch through Washtenaw County is its heart: morning-calm water past Delhi’s rapids, through Barton and Argo ponds, down the Argo Cascades into downtown Ann Arbor, and on through Gallup Park toward Ypsilanti.

What that means day to day: liveries rent kayaks, canoes, and tubes all summer; well-kept launches appear every few miles; and a float from Scio Township to downtown Ann Arbor is a casual two-hour outing thousands of locals do every year. Rivers used to be the reason towns existed here. Around Washtenaw County, the Huron has become the reason weekends exist.