The Huron: a National Water Trail runs through it
The Huron River is a designated National Water Trail, with more than a hundred paddleable miles and liveries, launches, and river towns strung along 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. The stretch through Washtenaw County is its heart. Morning-calm water runs past Delhi’s rapids, through Barton and Argo ponds, and down the Argo Cascades into downtown Ann Arbor. From there it continues through Ypsilanti and into Ford Lake in Ypsilanti Township.
Day to day, that means liveries rent kayaks, canoes, and tubes all summer. Well-kept launches appear every few miles. A float from Scio Township to downtown Ann Arbor is a casual two-hour outing, and thousands of locals do it every year. Rivers used to be the reason towns existed here. Around Washtenaw County, the Huron has become the reason weekends exist.
Where to see it
Launches at Hudson Mills, Delhi, and Gallup Park; liveries rent canoes and kayaks in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti all summer.
Sources
Last reviewed against the listed sources: July 12, 2026.