Our group of four did the 4 hour 11:00 AM in 2 two-person kayak on a beautiful sunny day. We all…read morehave kayaked many times over the years, but never the Dowajiac River.
Contrary to the first review, The guys working there were friendly and offered good advice (even when we asked about some other kayak venues around the state)
The business site is rustic but loaded with fine river worthy kayaks (and canoes). We drove our truck out to the 4 hour destination and they happily drove us back (for a reasonable fee).
We took a cooler full of drinks and granola bars. and I brought my phone to take photos.
The river was moving a day after some heavy rain, but the sun was shining.
The river is narrow and somewhat winding and offered plenty of overturned trees and obstacles made the ride fun to navigate, but no rapids or danger.
I recommend kayaks, the guys we saw in canoes were struggling to maneuver at times, but it's totally fine either way. This would not be a fun river to go tubing as you'd be stuck in branches, muck, spiderwebs constantly.
The trees overhang the river with sun bleeding through to provide a beautiful aesthetic. The ride was shady enough that I didn't require sunscreen. I didn't have any issues with mosquitoes either.
The banks were very mucky and almost always too steep to get out and walk, plus I think most of the river was off privately owned farm land.. It made for some advanced impromptu riverbank bathroom breaks due to the beverages, but that's all part of the fun, right?
There was a nice grassy spot on the final quarter of the ride near an overpass that we saw people having a picnic.
We saw a muskrat, king fisher, large river frogs, and several species of turtles.
We passed a few friendly people on our ride (it was Sunday of labor day weekend), but it was mostly desolate and quiet.
Our moment of excitement came when we approached a nearly impassable part with a couple of fallen trees. Our kayak was temporarily hung up but our friends didn't have time to avoid us and they tipped/submerged their boat and ours tipped and sunk in the reaction. It was about 3 feet of water, the current was strong but not overpowering. I somehow miraculously kept my phone above water while the rest of my body was dumped in. We also somehow recovered the life jackets/paddles/boats/cooler/car keys. All we lost was a coozie, pair of sunglasses, a t-shirt, and our pride. After our refreshing dip, we tipped the water out of the boats and were back on the river in no time.
Our exit location was easy to find by a well marked overpass.
We had a great time, a very nice afternoon well spent.
