Grayling and the mainstream, Michigan's most famous paddling water
The Au Sable is the river Michigan paddlers measure the others against. The mainstream below Grayling is gentle, clear, and lined with cedar, which makes it forgiving for a first overnight and still interesting for people who have run it for years. A weekend gives you enough time to float a real stretch without rushing the takeout.
June through September is the heart of the season. Water is warmest and liveries are fully staffed from late June on. If you want the river quieter, aim for a weekend in early June or after Labor Day, and know that the annual overnight canoe marathon each summer draws a crowd to Grayling for one specific weekend, worth either planning around or steering clear of depending on your taste.
A classic weekend float is the mainstream from Grayling downstream, broken into two days with a night at a riverside campground or a state forest access point. The current does the work; you are steering, not fighting. Because it is a one-way trip, the shuttle is the part to arrange first, which is where a livery earns its fee.
This is the point of the whole thing: live data, not a static page. These tools carry the current conditions for this trip.
Two systems cover almost every public campsite in the state, and both let you book ahead rather than gamble on a walk-up.
State park and DNR sites reserve through the Michigan system, often as far as six months in advance, so popular weekends fill early. National forest ground in the Huron-Manistee and Hiawatha, and backcountry permits along Lake Superior, go through Recreation.gov. For this trip the liveries around Grayling handle canoe rental and the upstream drop, downstream pickup shuttle that makes a one-way float possible. The Au Sable field map below carries the livery and access-point detail.