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| RIVER: | Yellow Dog River, Upper |
| LOCATION: | 20 miles NW of Marquette, MI |
| AMENITIES: | Click for Michigan Amenities (food, lodging, etc.) |
| PUT-IN: | Small side road (probably hike in) off AAA Road at Yellow Dog Plains |
| TAKE-OUT: | Hwy.510 |
| SHUTTLE: | Proceed NW on Hwy.510 about 3.5 miles to AAA Road, left (W). Just shy of 3 miles this road will turn S, and just shy of 2 miles more will turn back W. Proceed 1.5 miles to side road to left, or proceed another half mile to another side road to left. Take either of these (by car or by foot) to the river. (At times when this may be boatable, the roads are likely to be impassible.) |
| DIST: | 7.0 miles |
| TIME: | 3.5 hours |
| CLASS: | II-III (V+) |
| CHARACTER: | Remote. Pool/drop. Rather little whitewater for the effort. |
| GAUGE: | Visual. Below the bridge at the put-in (Hwy.510), in the water there is an I-beam with three bolts in it. Bare minimum is all three bolts showing (probably not worth doing, but you can boat it). Good is when water is at or over the top bolt (but some of the I-beam is still visible.) |
| SEASON: | Spring (April) |
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DeLorme's (and other maps) show Wylie Falls and Pinnacle Falls on this stretch of river. Wylie (I'm told) is not really a falls, but a broken-out dam which forms not even a wave. (Don't bother trying to get up that far.) Pinnacle falls is an impressive drop, pretty much a no-brainer portage for all mortal boaters. There are a few other good stretches of decent II-III water as well.
Generally, the hassle of trying to get to this river make this stretch virtually never run. (A snowmobile would be a better shuttle vehicle when this section of river is likely to be runnable, due to the snows on the Yellow Dog Plains -- AAA is not plowed in winter) Note: Vidcap (photo) from run at "2 bolts" level (1995.05.06). |