Pine River Conditions and News

Welcome to the PRPC News and Specials Page. Stay up to date with river conditions, access updates, general announcements and special internet only offers.

Miltner Update:

Been a busy winter for us. Early winter, Jake worked at a local ski area, spending days off panning for gold in various Pine River tributaries. He then went gold prospecting north of Joshua Tree for a month and is now back home chomping at the bit for some global warming to kidk in and get the paddling season going. Val as usual kept too busy teaching at Heritage Christian in Cadillac, and I was trying to stay out of trouble driving truck from NY to MO, and working in the woods when not in the truck. Picture above is of Jake demonstrating proper canoe carrying technique to some new staff members.

River Conditions:

For current water flows, please see table below. As of 5/23/13, the annual Spring safety (navigation) work has been completed from Briar Patch Access down to Low Bridge. Edgetts to Briar will be done sometime next week. You can also visit our Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/ThePineRiver) for the latest news on the river safety work.

So What’s New for 2013?

  We’re really excited to let you know we are adding to our menu of StandUp Paddleboards. No surprise to us that the SUPs were a big hit with our guests last year. And so for our female and smaller paddlers we are adding some lighter, softer, inflatable SUPs from NRS, the leading paddlesports vendor in the USA.

Kids R Us!! Following our desire to be the Family Staycation Hub of the Midwest, we are jazzed to be adding more kid’s kayaks to our rental menu. We’re confident our Heron Jr. kid kayaks from Old Town are going to be a big hit with the kids this season. Sizing up the cockpit, seating, and hull design tells us these are going to be a very comfortable, easy paddling kayak for adventurous youth up to 115 lbs. A really slick feature Old Town incorporated in this design is a retractable tow strap that allows mom or dad to easily tow the young paddler if he/she runs out of gas.

We are also adding a few new Perception kayak models to the selection of kayaks available for our larger guests.

Also, as we're always striving to give you as many ways as possible to enjoy our incredible rivers, for the first time we will be renting Bellyaks. What is a Bellyak?? You got it, you paddle it lying on your belly. And paddle with webbed neoprene gloves as opposed to a paddle. We’re not ready to project that they will be as popular as the Stand-Up Paddleboards, but we won’t be surprised if they are. The are easily paddled from the belly, sitting or kneeling positions. To be sure, it's a more intimate experience with the river. The learning curve is very quick, and you'll be amazed at how easy it is to catch mini-eddies, do stern squirts, surf waves, etc.

Pic below is of some of our paddling family on a recent Manistee River trip.

An interesting statistic … 24% percent of our rental guests actually own their own craft, but find it much cheaper and easier to rent ours. Why? It's easy and it saves you money. When you rent from us, we pay for your boat permits and parking passes. And the bigger upside is that not having boats on the top of your vehicle significantly improves your gas mileage, it saves you from having to load them, unload them, risk losing them, shuttle them around while here(or pay us to do your shuttle), and then wash them up and put them away when you get back home.

Reminders for folks paddling their personal craft: If you are bringing your own craft, you will need to buy USFS Parking Passes @ $5/day, $15/week for your vehicles. Also remember that watercraft permits are required for all watercraft, including tubes, from the Friday of Memorial Day Weekend through the Monday of Labor Day Weekend for a fee of $2. Watercraft permits for the Pine and Pere Marquette Rivers on the Huron-Manistee NF’s are now available on-line! To make a reservation, go directly to the Permits page. or call 1-877-444-6777

Please Remember: Alcohol and river-sports are a destructive mix. For safety, social, and resource protection considerations, please wait until you're off the river and off the road, before partaking of any alcohol. Please also remember that Styrofoam packaging or coolers, glass, water balloons, and firecrackers are prohibited on the river. Thanks for preventing litter by using your litter-bag and making sure all cargo is securely tied to your craft.

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