The Pere Marquette is an extremely popular river for canoeists. The moderately fast current, the clear water, the low degree of stream bank development, have all helped to make this river a mecca for those who canoe or kayak. The river is two to four feet deep and is divided into three sections:

Section #1: M-37 Bridge to Bowman Bridge
Section #2: Bowman Bridge to Upper Branch Bridge
Section #3: Upper Branch Bridge to Walhalla Bridge

PERMITS
The Pere Marquette River has daily watercraft limits, and you must have a permit to enter the river...which is open to paddlers from 9am-6pm. A daily permit is available by calling the U.S. Forest Service at (231) 745-3100. Cost is $3.00 per watercraft...and you must obtain the permit for the particular section you wish to paddle. The Forest Service also charges a $5 daily parking fee at their access sites. You may also obtain a $15 weekly or $30 annual fee.

Commercial canoe liveries are well established on the mainstream. In Lake and Mason counties there are aproximately 730 rental canoes available. Of this figure, approximately 450 were located on or near the immediate area of the Pere Marquette River.

The U.S. Forest Service has estimated that 90 percent of the canoe use in the system occurs from the "Forks" to Upper Branch Bridge with 65 percent of the canoe use occurring from the "Forks" to Bowman's Bridge. Canoeists on the Pere Marquette are further characterized by:

◦Over half of the use is by organized groups who tend to travel in parties.
◦Most of the use occur on weekends, with Saturday being the most popular single day.
◦Few trips are the more than one day, with four to six hours being the most popular canoe length.
◦Most canoeists are inexperienced and many are first-timers.
◦Use is concentrated from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm.
◦Use season is from late May to October.
Boating with motors is concentrated from Indian Bridge to the mouth. Such
boating is usually concentrated with fishing rather than pleasure boating and
most often occurs during the spring and fall and steelhead and salmon runs.

Source: Pere Marquette River Natural River Plan, Michigan DNR (revised 2002)