East Branch Fox River - Michigan's Upper Peninsula

[NYViking]

Hello Everyone,

Curious if anyone has canoed this river. Ideally looking for details heading north towards Superior.

Any canoe/camping info would be appreciated.

Thank you.

Viking

 

[Pringles]

I used to drive by it on my way to backpacking at Pictured Rocks. It was a pretty small river. I certainly don't have much to offer, but I have been told that there were a lot of little log jams, and that mosquitoes were a big issue. You might try contacting the Hiawatha National Forest Visitor Center (which is also the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Visitor Center), and see what they have to offer... 906-387-3700. They're good folks, and I trust them to help.

 

[NYViking]

Thank you Pringles.

Pictured Rocks is a very nice place. Have you spent a bit of time in the UP? It certainly is a long haul from your current location!

 

[Boreal Birch]

I fished the Fox a few Autumns ago, not in a canoe, I remember it being fairly narrow, thick brush with lots of timber in the river. As I remember it flows South, into the Manistique River, so canoeing up it to get close to Lake Superior doesn't sound to fun to me. I would think the Portage from the headwaters to the Big Gitchie Gumie might be a daunting task.

 

[Pringles]

Boreal Birch's description seems close to what I remember seeing. There's an outfitter/campground in Germfask. He shuttled a group I was with and knew that river--I just don't know what river that was, off hand. Let's face it, none of the UP rivers are too long, they either go to Lake Michigan or Lake Superior, and even if they wind a bunch, it isn't that long of a trip. If you want a river trip, this won't help, but I "found" the Blind Sucker campground one October (NW of Newberry, or east of Grand Marais). It was beautiful and many of the sites were right on the water (there are two Blind Sucker campgrounds and I was at the eastern one). I went back the next summer, and it was sort of crowded, but I got a spot on the water and early and late and all day I paddled. I'd do that again in a heartbeat. We were told there were leeches all over the lake, so I was extra cautious (eeeeeuuuuuuu, leeches!). That doesn't answer your question about the Fox, but it might give you an idea of a place to go with a canoe, in the UP. I'd also done a trip on the Two Hearted in the early summer, while the water was still sort of high. There were occasional logs to "bump" over, but it was quite nice. There was a campground where we put in and a campground at the mouth of the river--though that one might have gotten burned badly during the fire of a number of years ago. Again, it doesn't help with your question. :-( I still think you might get the best information from the Hiawatha National Forest folks. In my experience, I call and get someone who doesn't know diddly--but they call Jack or Tom or Henrietta, who does, and suddenly, you know where herons are nesting and the fish are usually bitin'. Oh, and there are a whole passel of lakes on State or National Forest Service land just southish of Pictured Rocks. I never really got to 'em, because I was usually hiking in Pictured Rocks. There's a drive in little campground on Little Beaver Lake, in Pictured Rocks. Some of the sites are on the lake, and that lake leads you to Big Beaver Lake, which has an outlet (Beaver Creek) that takes you to Lake Superior. You could actually put in at Little Beaver and paddle to a back country campsite on Big Beaver Lake, and then putter about. You can also take that creek to a backcountry site--hmmm--Beaver Creek Backcountry Site? It's been a little while, and I forget the names. I don't know how hard it would be to go down Beaver Creek, but I've seen sea kayaks on the creek site of the log jam that blocks the last 100 yards of the creek. Once or twice I came across a portage point from Big Beaver Lake that I think said it was one mile to Trapper Lake. As far as I know, Trapper is not a part of a string of lakes, so while you could camp there, it, well, it isn't like the Boundary Waters. I can't help much with rivers in the UP, but if you want to paddle a canoe, there are all kinds of places.

Yes, I lived in the UP for almost 20 years, in the Sault. I have gone back a few times and it is a long haul, but I make it a wee bit longer by going over Lake Superior, through Canada. The traffic's not bad, and the scenery is more to my liking. But truely, it's all to my liking. Pringles

 

[Srobocop]

A few years ago I paddled the Manistique River from Germfask to Lake Michigan. I looked at possibilities of starting even farther north in the west or east branch of the Fox River. I was told by Nortland Outfitters the east branch is impassable by canoe to the Manistique R. I believe by fall down, tag alders, or bog (or a combination). If I remember right you can get a 4 or 5 miles north of M-28 before he said it narrows down quite a bit on the east branch.

All that being said, I'd still love to try taking the east branch of the Fox to the Manistique. I love a good sufferfest.

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