68 Au Sable River
wildlife viewing | directions and facility information
 Accessible
fishing pier on Cooke Dam Pond completed in 1999, one of four new
accessible piers constructed by Consumers Energy Company on the Au Sable
River.
Photo: © Jim Bernier, Consumers Energy
This stretch of the Au Sable River from Grayling to Lake Huron offers breathtaking scenery as well as
excellent wildlife viewing opportunities. Panoramic vistas from high
bluff overlooks, long wooden boardwalks over spring-fed streams, and
miles of quiet, undeveloped shoreline all can be found along this scenic
river that flows from Grayling to Oscoda. Consumers Energy owns and
operates six hydroelectric dams along the Au Sable between Lake Huron and
the town of Mio.
Most of the river frontage is Huron
National Forest
land managed by the U.S. Forest Service or Consumers Energy lands. These
lands provide a combination of developed and undeveloped outdoor
recreation opportunities. Contact the Forest Service for hiking,
canoeing, camping, skiing, and snowmobiling opportunities along the river
corridor.
 Wildlife
Viewing
 Foote Dam trumpeter swans with brood of five cygnets, June
2002. The parents who were released by Consumers Energy in 1998 are identified
by the green neck bands. The cygnets will attain the all white adult
plumage and black bill the following spring.
Photo: © Gary Dawson, Consumers Energy
Good chance of seeing bald eagles along the river in any
season. Eagles hunt for fish and waterfowl in the shallow areas of the
river and in the reservoirs formed by the six hydro dams. A successful
effort to re-establish native trumpeter swan populations has resulted in
excellent opportunities to view the majestic birds on the hydro reservoirs.
Deer and wild turkeys are common along the river corridor and in the
adjacent woodlands. Watch for them along roadsides at dawn and dusk.
While canoeing the river, you may see river otters, mink, beaver,
trumpeter swans, mallards and mergansers, and many songbirds. The song of
the secretive winter wren, the northern water thrush and the black and
white warbler are common along many of the thicker riverbank habitats.
The melodious and distinctive songs of these and the many other resident
songbirds add to the beauty of a float down this very wild and scenic
river."
 View
of the wetlands area on the Loud Dam Pond, as seen from the viewing deckat the River Road Scenic By-Way West Gate
Entrance Station, M-65, seven miles north of Hale, MI.
Photo: © Jim Bernier, Consumers Energy
A canoe float anywhere on the Au Sable River provides breathtaking
scenery, excellent fishing, and plenty of wildlife viewing opportunities.
Photo: © Dave Case
The 23 mile stretch of the river from Mio downstream to
the 401 Bridge is a designated National
Scenic River.
In the river, you may see trout, walleye, pike and bass. Fishing here is
excellent. The Au Sable makes an easy, beautiful float, and there are
plenty of canoe liveries available in the area if you do not have your
own boat.
Portions of this area
are open to public hunting. Contact the Michigan
Department of Natural Resources for hunting seasons and locations.
This wood duck box in a wetland area near Cooke Dam Pond is one of 70
monitored and maintained by Consumers Energy Company near its Au Sauble River Dams. Sharp-eyed wildlife viewers can
spot the boxes in wetland areas and look for signs of wood duck nesting
activity in the spring. Consumers also maintains
houses for purple martin colonies, nearly 100 eastern bluebird boxes and
osprey nesting platforms along the Au Sable.
Photo: © Jim Bernier, Consumers Energy
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