One mile away
The Au Sable River.
Tubing, canoeing, kayaking, trout fishing. The Au Sable is one of the most famous fly-fishing rivers in Michigan, and it runs about a mile from our front gate.
Tubing and floats
Mio sits on a slow, scenic stretch of the Au Sable. A tube float is the most-asked-about activity on the river. There are a handful of liveries within a short drive that handle tube rentals and shuttle service, ask at the camp store and we'll point you to the one that fits your group size.
Canoeing + kayaking
If you want to paddle a longer stretch, the same liveries rent canoes and kayaks and shuttle you upstream so you can paddle back. The water moves slowly enough that beginners do fine, but there's enough current that you're not paddling against it the whole way.
Fly fishing
The Au Sable is one of the great brown-trout rivers in the Midwest. The stretch around Mio and downstream is classified water, barbless hooks, catch-and-release, no bait. If that's why you're here, you know the deal. If you're new to it, the camp store can point you to a guide.
What you need
- Michigan fishing license if you're casting (sold online from the DNR)
- Water shoes, the river bottom is gravel and stone
- Dry bag for your phone if you're tubing
- Sunscreen and bug spray, both
Tubing weekends
Bring the whole crew.
Tubing groups have been booking us for thirty years. Twenty, fifty, eighty people on the river. Pizza when you get back, campfire that night, do it again the next morning.
Plan a river day from your campsite.
Wake up, grab pizza at the store, walk down to the river by 10 AM, float back by dinner. Hard to beat.