Pine River Conditions and News

Date: 7/20/2010

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

River Conditions:

Apologies for having been absent without leave. We've been full-tilt busy (thank God!). But that's no excuse. You can deliver thirty well deserved lashes next time you see me. And wow how gratifying it's been to be able to help so many beautiful folks enjoy the PRPC Campground and the jewels of Michigan paddlesports.

Both rivers remain in superb shape. Inviting as ever, and dying to have you do that dance with craft and current. We've never had so many families rafting and kids enjoying the self independence and self-confidence that grows while paddling our funyaks, kayaks, and canoes.

Wanted to share these photos of a boat carcass that Jake & I saw for the first time while doing safety work on the Manistee between Hodenpyle Dam and Red Bridge about a month ago. One photo shows a close-up of a corner of the boat, and the other photo shows an overview of a large portion of the boat, one side of which is underwater outside of the dead tree that has floated in on top of it. This thing is huge, about 20 feet wide, 40 feet long, yet it's managed to hide from my view during dozens of outings on that stretch of the river. My 87 year old father-in-law who grew up near there tells me it dates back to the logging days. He said that shortly after WWII began, some locals salvaged the boiler off the boat and put it on a train headed south to a steel yard to be melted down and turned into military hardware. Stupefying that I could have missed it all these years, but jazzed to have found it, a fascinating piece of cultural resource for sure.

On that same outing Jake & I were entertained by the usual menu of fur-bearers including a few baby muskrat, oodles of waterfowl, eagles, herons, swans, etc.

27 Holes of Frisbee/Disc Golfing Delight Now Completed!

Twas a long haul, but we've finished widening the fairways on the original nine holes. Still challenging for sure, but a little easier on youngsters and duffers like me.

We're thrilled to share that we've added a 2nd nine holes, as well as an around-the-world nine hole course with shorter, and more open fairways to the basket. Here is more information on our campground frisbee/disc golf course.

So beat feet up here and enjoy some frolicking with the frisbees and discs. The resident chipmunks, rabbits, and birds that live on the course are waiting for you to come on up and entertain them.

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Reminders for folks paddling their personal craft: 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 from May 15th to September 10th, you must obtain river-use permit(s) from the USFS. Permits can again be reserved through the US Forest Service Baldwin District Office for $2/craft. Call 231-745-4631 to check availability and reserve your permits.

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.

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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