Millecoquins River Kayaking Guide

The Millecoquins River is the general name for a two-part river system in Garfield Township, Mackinac County, in the eastern Upper Peninsula — the companion overview to this site's separate Upper Millecoquins River and Lower Millecoquins River pages. (Official records do not list a single feature called just "Millecoquins River"; the system is divided at Millecoquins Lake.) The Upper Millecoquins River runs 7.6 miles from the outlet of Millecoquins Pond in northern Mackinac County south to Millecoquins Lake, and the Lower Millecoquins River runs 9.6 miles from the lake's outlet on a winding southerly course to Lake Michigan, entering about 1.5 miles west of Naubinway and 4.5 miles east of Engadine.

The name Millecoquins (pronounced "mel-a-coke-ins") is French for "a thousand thieves," derived from the Indigenous terms Manana koking or Minakoking, meaning "a place where the hardwood is plentiful." The community of Millecoquins sits on the south end of Millecoquins Lake in Lake Superior State Forest land, and Millecoquins Point forms Naubinway Harbor with its park and marina. It is a quiet, scenic corner of the Lake Michigan shoreline — but no paddling guide, DNR water trail, or livery documents a canoe or kayak route on either segment of the river, and no DNR boat launch or developed river access was found. The winding lower river and Millecoquins Lake look like plausible flat water, but that is not documented, so this page will not present it as a route.

Paddling the Millecoquins River

No documented paddling route

Neither the 7.6-mile Upper segment nor the 9.6-mile Lower segment has a published paddling route, and no DNR access site exists on the river itself. The Michigan DNR does maintain a public boating access site in Naubinway on Lake Michigan, roughly 1.5 miles east of the river's mouth — that is lake access, not river access, and the big-water conditions of northern Lake Michigan demand full preparation. Anyone interested in the river itself should scout it from roads and the lakeshore first, respect private property around Millecoquins Lake, and check current Michigan DNR maps rather than assuming a put-in.

Hazards & Portages

No dams, falls, or rapids are on record for either segment of the Millecoquins. The practical hazards are the undocumented kind: unknown deadfall and beaver activity on a winding, unmaintained stream, private frontage around the lake, and Lake Michigan wind and waves at the mouth.

Access & Parking

No canoe or kayak launch is developed on the Millecoquins River. The nearest documented public access is the DNR boating access site at Naubinway on Lake Michigan, about 1.5 miles east of the river mouth. The community of Millecoquins on the south shore of Millecoquins Lake offers a look at the middle of the system. Do not improvise a river put-in across private land.

Map