Salmon Trout River

With most of the Salmon Trout River's main branch located in the fabled Huron Mountain Club property, it is hard to visit or enjoy. It has a small watershed and low average water flow, but the location and rugged terrain make this river an amazing and rustic destination for the adventurous hikers.

West Branch and Main Branch Salmon Trout River

The Salmon Trout River has two main branches, the East and West Branch. Together, these rivers drain the northern reaches of the Yellow Dog Plains, even sharing some watershed area with the southern Yellow Dog River near Eagle Rock. They, along with Cedar Creek, have hollowed a deep gorge that forms a valley between the Yellow Dog Plains plateau and the Huron Mountains. The upper reaches of the river are easily visited, either being located in logging or public land, but by the time they join, are within private land of the Huron Mountain Club. After joining, the river heads north, and soon becomes a slow, swampy river before emptying into Salmon Trout River.

The West Branch, while it shares watershed with the Yellow Dog and reaches as far south as the Triple A road, is fairly small until it enters the rugged Huron Mountains. There, it joins with the main river and begins falling over old dams and numerous waterfalls interspersed with small swampy ponds. These waterfalls are within Club property, making them impossible to visit and hard to find photos of.

Hogback Falls on East Branch Salmon Trout River

The East Branch also has meager beginnings, with headwaters reaching to the northeast corner of the Yellow Dog Plains. It turns sharply north before reaching Dodge City and begins a series of waterfalls and rapids between two large, rocky mounds before joining the main river. A few of these waterfalls are accessible from the maze of logging roads along the river, though this area is unmarked and easy to get lost in.

The Salmon Trout River has several treasures only accessible to Huron Mountain Club owners. Many amazing waterfalls intersperse the river, some well over twenty feet high. The untouched woods surrounding the river is thick with old-growth, as all logging operations along the river were ceased after the Club was established. This river is the only remaining natural spawning stream of the Coaster Brook Trout in Michigan.

The best way to visit the Salmon Trout River is along the treacherous Northwestern Road off of the Triple A. This road is barely suitable for four wheelers between Dodge City and the Cedar Creek bridge. Many logging tracks head north off of this road, though caution is recommended as the Huron Mountain Club's boundaries are somewhat random and hard to spot. However, if you can visit this rustic mountain stream and the surrounding rugged terrain, these risks are well worth the adventure.