Canoeing Michigan Rivers: A Comprehensive Guide to 45 Rivers, Revise and Updated

by Jerry Dennis, Craig Date

Caution! You may want to paddle every river! Rapid by rapid, rock by rock descriptions of 1500 miles of canoeing opportunities on 45 blue-ribbon rivers by two experts who personally paddled every mile. A wealth of canoeing adventures from placid family floats to blood-curdling whitewater runs. Accurate, easy-to-follow maps show access sites, campgrounds, put-ins/take-outs, roads, bridges. . . and more. Concise, essential call-out data features gradient, rapids and falls, portages, skill required. . . and more. Clear, authoritative descriptions detail lengths, trip times, depth, current, bottom composition, widths, access information, parking facilities, fishing opportunities. . . and more.

Genres: Nonfiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1986

About the author

Jerry Dennis was born in Flint in 1954, and grew up in rural northern Michigan. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Louisville in 1981, after attending Northern Michigan University and Northwestern Michigan College.

As he began his writing career, he worked as a carpenter for five years. To date, he has written for many publications. Journalistic assignments sent him to Iceland, Chile, and extensively throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Dennis married during this time to Gail. They currently live on the shores of Lake Michigan, not far from Traverse City.

Since 2000 he has been on the faculty of the University of Michigan's Bear River Writers Conference, where he teaches creative non-fiction and nature writing.

As of 2014, he is the author of ten books, his best known book is The Living Great Lakes, about his trip around the great lakes in a rickety ship. He was awarded a place on the Michigan Notable Books list for that book.

In 2014, in response to a pricing dispute between his publisher, MacMillan Press, and Amazon, Dennis set up his own publishing house, Big Maple Press, to produce books which will be sold only through independent booksellers.

His awards include: 2004 Michigan Notable Books, 2004 Sigurd Olsen Nature Writing Award, 2004 Great Lakes Culture Best Book Award Non-Fiction, 2004 The Stuart D. and Vernice M. Gross Award for Literature,
2003 Alumni Fellows Award, University of Louisville, College of Arts and Sciences,
1999 Michigan Author of the Year,
1993, 1996, 1998, and 2003 Best Book of the Year awarded by Outdoor Writers Association of America.

Reviews

[Jessie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been treasuring a book from Thunder Bay Press, entitled Canoeing Michigan Rivers: A Comprehensive Guide to 45 Rivers, Revised and Updated, by Jerry Dennis and Craig Date. It is jam-packed with great details - lists by rivers, start to finish, counties, miles/time, gradient, portages, rapids/falls, campgrounds, canoe liveries, skill levels required, and permits required. They have a nice introduction to each river, for both the Upper and Lower Peninsula. It is one of the best guidebooks I've ever read!

I was lucky enough to sit down and talk with Jerry about their book - and what a fun interview it was! Here's what he had to say...
https://www.wanderingeducators.com/bo...

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome. Seems up to date and accurate. Good depth of info that covers a lot of rivers. I wish it wasn’t canoe specific, but I’ll get over it.

[Mallory Plahs · Rating 5 out of 5]

It rarely leaves our truck in summer. My father's river guide passed down to me.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great guide with helpful information for portage and best in & out spots. I love that they give visual landmarks that make it easier for someone who hasn't yet visited the areas.