"HEART" OF THE INLAND WATERWAY"

About the waterway - The first known improvement to the waterway occurred in 1874, that was the clearing of a sand bar at the head of the Indian River.  Prior to this time, the waterway was used by the Indians in canoes as a means of travel across the Northern end of the Lower Peninsula.  During the lumbering era, the route was used extensively for transporting forest products and supplying the lumbering camps.  At the turn of the century, steam-powered excursion boats carried passengers and picnickers between Conway, on Crooked Lake, and Top-in-a-bee on Mullett Lake.  Since then, the Inland Waterway has developed to become one of the more popular boat trips to be found anywhere in the country.  It is especially attractive during the "color season" of late September and early October.  Thanks to the area people and U.S. Corps. of Engineers, during 1956-58, the channels were made navigable for boats up to 30 feet.  Today, boating groups, vacationers and local residents find this trip most delightful and make the trip on frequent occasions.  We highly recommend this boating tour.  Motels and restaurants area available along the entire route.

From Crooked Lake in Conway, the navigable waters flow towards Lake Huron.  Passing from lake to river, the water drops two feet at the Crooked River Lock.  Through Alanson, past its quaint swing bridge, and north into Hay Lake, (a marsh two miles long) the waters flow.  At Devil's Elbow and at the Oxbow, the Crooked River lives up to its name.  Here, on its forested banks, deer browse; and autumn creates a display irresistible to the boater.  At Maple Bay, water from within a half mile of Lake Michigan fills Burt Lake, Michigan's fifth largest Lake (measured by acreage).

Past the elegant homes of Indian Point, along the base of Griswold Mountain, and at the foot of the inspiring crucifix at the Indian River Shrine, the waters move toward the Indian River.  This meandering river flows through the pretty resort town bearing its name, under I-75, through a marshland filled with swans, and north into Mullett Lake.  On the east side of this lake are several forested points, while the west features many fine vacation homes, such as Kristin Place and those on Dodge Point around the Village of Mullett Lake.  The waters move more swiftly as the enter the Cheboygan River, past the fort-like Hack-ma-tack Inn, the towering pines of Strawberry Island, and on to their meeting with the peat-stained water of the Black River.  Wider now, the river slows in the backdrop from the dam at the Great Lakes Tissue Plant.  Here locks lower your boat fifteen feet to the level of Lake Huron, one and a half miles away through the busy town of Cheboygan, with its shops, restaurants, marinas, theaters, and completely sheltered harbor.  From here as home base, all attractions of the Straits Area and the St. Mary's River beckon.

Facts: 150 miles of shoreline, approximately 38 miles of rivers/lakes dredged to 5 foot, width of 30 feet by U.S. Corps. of Engineers (subject to shoaling) route completely laid out with channel markers; river entrances marked with flashing lights accessible from I-75, US-27, M-33 and US-31 ramps with varying water depths available along the waterway 2 state parks along the route, Aloha State Park, on Mullett Lake, and Burt Lake State Park, on Burt Lake, and 1 state forest campground at Maple Bay on Burt Lake