Pointe Mouillee State Game Area: Hike Reports

I originally posted most of these hike reports on the Great Lakes Hikes Yahoo Group. At least one was originally posted on thebackpacker.com.

10/02/00

Pointe Mouillee is that rare thing in Metro Detroit - a large, wild place. The waters of the Detroit and Huron Rivers and Lake Erie meet here. It is possible to see passing freighters, a lighthouse, the coast of Canada and the distant Detroit skyline.

The game area is essentially a marsh reconstruction project. Hikers follow the tops of 18+ miles of dikes. Pelicans, arctic terns and thousands of swans are among the bird life that can be spotted here.

The hiking is flat, and a perimeter hike of the game area (10/11 miles) takes about 4 or 5 hours.
Hunting, of course, is popular here and the eastern shoreline is closed from Sept. -Jan. for hunting seasons. Directions to Hike Take I-75 to the S. Rockwood/S. Huron River Dr. exit. Follow S. Huron River Drive east to U.S. Turnpike. Follow this south a few hundred yards to a dirt parking area on the south side of the Huron River. Park your car and hike. Contact Information Maps can be picked up at any time outside the DNR offices on Campau road just north of the Wayne/Monroe county line.

Call the MI DNR at Pointe Mouillee for details: (734) 379-9692

02/08/01:

I've done some night hiking at Pointe Mouillee SGA (about 20 minutessouth of Detroit). There's a lighthouse and you can see the moonglow for 20+ miles. When the freighters start moving again, you can see 'em all lit up. Just be careful with your car, because it's a kind of lonely place.

4/15/01:

BTW, I saw my first trail arrest yesterday. I was hiking the dikes at Pointe Mouillee and all of a sudden, two sunglasses-wearing, official-looking DNR guys on ORVs came by with a guy in handcuffs. Maybe he was a biker!

05/01/01:

I was also out at Pointe Mouillee SGA a few weeks ago. I just love seeing the birds. We've been talking about sandhill cranes in another thread. Well, it's possible to see hundreds of swans congregating here. I've also seen pelicans in the marshes. And there is a new bald eagle's nest across the Huron River. It's a really nice - albeit flat - hike (10-12 miles).

05/14/01:

On Sunday, I took my dad out to Pointe Mouillee. We only went about 3 miles, but saw three freighters and what we think was a bald eagle. Great weather.

7/25/01:

Last week, I hiked out and watched a few of the tall ships just south of Detroit. I saw a lighthouse, the mouth of the Huron and Detroit Rivers and the west end of Lake Erie. On my way out I was buzzed by a bald eagle. And all of this happened within view of the Renaissance Center. Hike Detroit!

12/22/01

This reminds me, though, of the pelicans I saw at Pt. Mouillee SGA a few years back. You wouldn't think of seeing them in Michigan. And I've seen bald eagles within view of the Ren Cen. Oh, and I saw a list of sighted birds from Mouillee. Apparently, there was once a flamingo in Michigan there. I'm not much of a birder, but I find them fascinating. I especially like the fact that they often blowour biased "hiker" view of good natural experience out of the water. A truly wild experience isn't always about hills and woods. Sometimes it's just a muddy patch near a factory.

04/29/02

On Sunday, I did an out and back at Pointe Mouillee SGA. It wasabout 7 miles along Mouillee Creek - a broad marshy river really -and some giant wetland ponds until I hit the coast with a great view of a couple of freighters and the Detroit River light. Of course, a cold front was coming through on my way back and I walked directly into 40 mile per hour winds. A car blew off I-75 very close to my hike. Kind of fun, though. Take I-75 to S. Rockwood exit. Take S.Huron River Drive to US Turnpike. Turn left or right to multipletrailheads. Maps on the DNR website.

03/03/03

On Sunday afternoon, I hiked at Pointe Mouillee State Game Area with a group of four. I've written about Pointe Mouillee before, but...

Pointe Mouillee is located mostly just south of the border of Wayne and Monroe Counties east of Jefferson/US Turnpike and just west of Lake Erie. While many maps show it as a conglomeration of swampy islands, it is very much hikeable due to the work of the US Army Corps of Engineers.

Pointe Mouillee was originally formed as the Huron River delta. Silt and other material would create a marshy area at the mouth ofthe Huron. Since the Detroit river sideswipes the delta from the north, no marsh was ever present at the north side of the rivermouth. All was pushed to the southern banks. The French settlers and Native Americans found great hunting here. The French gave the place its name - "wet point." Hunting is still a very popular activity here. As the level of the Great Lakes increased, the marshes began to deteriorate. This became especially true after the sand bar islands that guarded the rivermouth ceased to exist. It was very much likely that the marshes would soon be lost. So, it was decided that hunting fees and federal monies would be used to recreate the barrier islands using capped dredge material from the shipping channels.

The result was the creation of a seven mile barrier island called "the banana." I don't know how long it took to create this, but my understanding is that 40 to 50 million dollars were spent recreating the marsh. If you've ever hiked there, you can believe it. There are +30 miles of dike, most lined with giant boulders. Most human interference is a hindrance to outdoor experience, but the scale of this project always caused me a little bit of awe.

Anyway, the reconstruction project has been - it seems -successful. The place is one of the best places to bird in Michigan. On our hike on Sunday, we saw hundreds of swans flying information above us. We also spotted pheasants and other grounddwelling birds. We also spotted many ducks and a few geese. Muskrats and other marsh animals live in the area as well.

Our route took us around the perimeter of the game area. The place is about 4,000 acres in size and the perimeter hike is about 10 to 12 miles in length. The hiking is exceptionally flat.

However, the hiking can be difficult. The dikes have little give and can be hard on the feet. We also encountered large snow drifts in some spots -a few approached 3 feet in depth. We were lulled into a false sense of security in the first mile and didn't bring our snowshoes. This was a mistake. We persevered.

Perhaps the best characteristics of Pointe Mouillee are the extremely broad views. There are few trees in the game area - it is a marsh. It also abuts the confluence of Lake Erie and the Huron and Detroit Rivers. You can see forever. While we hiked, we saw a cold front moving through. The dark skies fought the brighter pastels that dominated the east. Soon sleet and snow began to fall. The winds turned bitter and became merciless. I would estimate the winds in this treeless region to be 20+ miles per hour constantly as we hiked. It took the breath away.
We passed a lighthouse and an old shipwreck on our hike. We even listened for - and heard - the foghorn from the Detroit River Light in a place guarded from the wind. When the weather is clear, a hiker can see offshore islands, the mainland coast of Canada, the old Boblo island needle and the Renaissance Center in the distance. During warmer months freighters pass on a regular basis. This is especially nice at night when the freighters and lighthouse illuminate the night sky.

We also passed a hearty crew of ice fishermen halfway through the hike. The banana holds a small harbor of refuge for boaters. This is a popular place for ice fishermen who temp the big fish of the big lake during the bitter months of the year. Besides the ice fishermen, we saw no hikers and no bikers. The place is so vast in its scope, however, that even weekends seem desolate.

Pointe Mouillee is a good example of how human interaction with nature can work well. It's also a good example of a great - and beautiful - natural environment close to a highly urbanized area. You would never know at the tip that you were within eyesight of the homes of millions.

The DNR administers this location and maps can be found on its website. I would recommend a visit.

03/15/03

Pointe Mouillee SGA has 30 miles of trail, but is much less user friendly. It is on the border of Wayne and Monroe Counties. Take I-75 to S. Rockwood exit. Take S. Huron River Drive east to US Turnpike. The park is mostly south on this road with several parking spots. Look at www.dnr.state.mi.us for maps - look in online mapsand state game and wildlife areas.

01/08/04

I really like Pte. Mouillee State Game Area (Monroe County) in the winter. There are no trees, so the wind whips unimpeded across the landscape. And since Lake Erie gets pretty much frozen flat, the wind could start in Buffalo and not hit anything until it hits your face. The slight gradations in the winter sky get so pronounced here. And the only people out are a few ice fishermen in the emergency harbor of refuge. I also like it because I can watch the tugs and ice breakers sometimes working in teams to cut the shipping channel past the Detroit River Light.

Desolate isolation!

02/29/04

Hike Report: Pointe Mouillee SGA

I just thought I'd post a little trail report for one of the better early spring hikes.

Saturday was such a nice day that I decided to do one of my favorite local 7 milers. Pointe Mouillee is a banana shaped dike system that juts into Lake Erie at the meeting point of the lake and Huron and Detroit Rivers.

I saw probably 500 or so swans flying around. I love to hear the mechanical "wuh-wuh" sound of their winds as they pass over. There were also hundreds of geese and ducks. This is an area that also has bald eagles, but I didn't see any in the open water areas. Of course, I didn't feel like systematically checking off the thousand or so birds that were just hanging out along the open water. So, maybe there were a few.

Lake Erie is almost completely open water at this point, so the early boater that I saw had lots of space. I did notice that the shipwreck at the easternmost point had moved a little since last year. The hull is just rusting away as the waves lap up.

Trails were quite hikeable. There was some mud, but no snow anywhere. However, the well-drained dikes tend to provide good hiking sooner than true natural surfaces. Monroe is a good early hike spot because it is the most south and east you can get in Michigan. This means it has the highest temperatures and the least snow in the state. Also, Lake Erie moderates temperatures upward in the winter.

3/3/4

Hey guys!

The Isle Royale post about seaplanes reminded me of something I saw while hiking at Pt. Mouillee (on far easter border of Wayne and Monroe County line).

While hiking, I was buzzed twice by a seaplane with the pontoons on. I guess the guy was trying to impress, but I was just curious if anyone knew of a place on the Detroit River that uses these things for transportation. One guess is the development on the old Boblo Island. But, I suppose it also could have taken off from the coolest airport in Michigan on Grosse Ile. Or maybe island transportation from Windsor to the Lake Erie Islands.

Always cool, though to see one of them things fly by.

05/25/04

I like Pte. Mouillee just because it's very different from other local hikes. The hiking takes place on 15 or 20 miles of dikes. The dikes have natural surface two tracks up on top. Given that this is a man-made structure, there is less give to the dikes than most trails. There are not designated "trails", however, the design of the place makes for nice hiking possibilities. The hiking is completely flat. However, the fact that this is a very large marsh next to large expanses of open water means that you get better long-distance views in this place than any other park in the region.

If you look at the map that the state puts out, you can identify the "trails" as the perimeter lines of each "unit." The coolest area might be the "banana." That is the reconstructed barrier island at the easternmost section of the game area. The view is dramatic.

05/25/04

The Detroit River Light can be accessed in a couple of ways. Take I-75 South to the South Rockwood exit. The road you exit onto is S. Huron River Drive. Take this east as far as you can go. Drive slowly because this is a notorious speed trap. Once you dead end, you will turn right onto a road called U.S. Turnpike. It might also be called Jefferson. Take this right for a very short distance and then turn left onto a potholed road just on the south side of the Huron River. Park in the DNR lot. This is Pointe Mouillee. If you follow the south bank of the Huron, you will eventually hit the confluence of the Huron and Detroit Rivers and Lake Erie - 2 or 3 mile hike. The Detroit River light is offshore. You can hear the foghorn. Bring some binocs for a good view. BTW, there are some other navigational structures in the area that can be seen on a clearday. Maps can be found on the DNR website under Pointe Mouillee State Game Area.

05/26/04

All are open to hiking. However, from the beginning of waterfowl season through Jan. 1, the game area is closed. Sept. 15th comes to mind as the close-off date. I've seen pelicans and bald eagles and hundreds upon hundreds of swans at the game area.

I'm hoping that one day there is a trail connecting Pointe Mouillee with Lake Erie Metropark and the Humbug Marsh. That would besomething.

07/20/04

Camping in the summer is not permitted at all. Camping is permitted with the free permit between Sept. 10 and May 15. Be aware that certain state game areas have specific regulations. Pointe Mouillee, for instance, is closed from 11 PM until 4AM each day. It is also closed in some spots from the beginning of waterfowl season until Jan. 1.