If your looking to enjoy a day on the water with family or friends, there are 1,300 public state and county boating access sites and over 80 harbors and marinas scattered throughout Michigan that you can use to launch your boat. With that many options choosing one may be a little difficult but finding one shouldn't be. If you go to the Michigan DNR website you can access the Michigan Recreational Boating Information System or MRBIS map that shows you all of the public launch sites and harbors in the state. You can even narrow your search down to just public launches if you want to be a little more specific. This is a helpful tool especially if you are looking for somewhere new to float or camp with the family.
Lake Michigan, Huron, Superior, and Erie all boarder our state providing beautiful beaches, great fishing, and tons of attractions to enjoy. You can find public launches and harbors spaced out up and down the coast in both the lower and upper peninsula. If your boat is a little too small for bigger bodies of water, try exploring some of our popular inland lakes such as Torch, Houghton, Saint Claire, Burt, Gull, Elk, or Crystal lake. These are some of the larger inland lakes but they can still be easily navigated with anything form a 12 aluminum boat to a larger pontoon or speed boat. All of these lakes have camp grounds or rental properties that you can stay at if your looking to stay for a few nights.
Michigan also has a large network of rivers and streams that are perfect for fishing a number of species such as walleye, pike, bass, and pan fish. In the fall you will see anglers flood to the Grand, Muskegon, Big Manistee, or Pere Marquette Rivers (to name a few) for our trophy steelhead and salmon fishing. If fishing isn't your thing, our state also has a ton of smaller rivers that are great waterways to float in kayaks, canoes, and tubes. Just sit back and enjoy the peaceful scenery Michigan has to offer.
When your on one of our many lakes or rivers, be sure that you have the proper education to operate a boat and that you are practicing safety at all times. Making sure that you and everyone around you is safe should always always be your top priority. If you were born after June 30, 1996 and most personal watercraft operators who operate a vessel in Michigan must have a boater education card. If you need to get your card, visit the Education & Safety page on the Michigan DNR website to see how you can go about getting it online.
Just like needing a boaters safety card, there are also a lot of other rules and regulations that you need to follow while operating a boat. Be sure that you are up to date on all of the laws before you head out on the water. If you need a refresh, head over to the Rules & Regulations page.