Newaygo and the Muskegon River

The little city of Newaygo grew up where the Muskegon River bends through the heart of the county, and the river still shapes life here. In the logging days, the Muskegon carried rafts of white pine down to the mills. Today it carries something lighter: a steady summer parade of tubers, kayakers, and canoes.

Below Croton Dam the Muskegon runs free and easy, wide and gentle enough for a lazy float on an inner tube yet lively enough to keep paddlers happy, and it’s known as one of the finest fishing rivers in the state. Newaygo has leaned into all of it. The county brands itself “River Country,” and the town is the natural jumping-off point, with liveries, outfitters, and river access right at hand. A string of county parks adds beaches, boat launches, and campsites along the water.

The name, like the county’s, is said to honor an Ojibwe leader from treaty days, though some trace it to a word meaning “much water.” Either way, it fits. Out here, the water is the main attraction.