Huron (Washtenaw)
B) Ann Arbor "Argo Cascades" (PnP)
| Difficulty | I(II) |
| Length | 0.28 mi |
| Avg Gradient | n/a |
| Gauge | Huron River at Ann Arbor, Mi |
| Flow Rate as of 22 minutes | 424 cfsabove recommended |
| Reach Info Last Updated | September 11, 2023 |
River Description
This water park consists of a series of nine tame drops into pools, largely as a canoe bypass around the Argo dam. The city runs two liveries which rent one- and two-person kayaks ('sit-on-tops') and rafts. Separately, it is free to the general public to bring personally-owned inflatables (mostly inner-tubes and the like), canoes or kayaks to run the gentle rips to cool off in summer.
There had also been plans for a more serious whitewater feature or two but this has been much more controversial. Additional articles about this venue are available online: Ann Arbor news (2012.03.01) City of Ann Arbor website Design Team website Neighborhood Concerns, 2016.06 Enjoy this video 'test paddle' of the course: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWn4NFl4u5U&ab_channel=Tenifus
River Features
Put In
Snow White / Bridge Drop
In the pool above the bridge, you can take out at the shore or walk up to scout. It's a long gradual slide into a small, shallow surf wave/hole. Front surfing and carving are almost always possible, sometimes even spins cartwheel initiations. The eddy lines below the play spot are decent for stern squirts, but very shallow. Sometimes the small wave train is big enough for ender practice. Used to be a 3-4 ft river wide pourover but they took it out cause too many people got hurt
Take Out
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportPaddled this 'portage' about 3 weeks ago with my wife. The flow was around 800 cfs. These are all small class I drops. At 800 cfs there may have been 2 drops approaching class II, and which you could kind of surf on. These drops are very narrow. Can be used to practice basic eddy turns and peel outs. A couple of drops may even be good ferry practice for a beginner. A couple of the pools were deep enough to practice rolling in current. You can pull your boat out and walk it back to the put-in for multiple laps.
I biked past the site last week, and construction is nearly complete. All the rock weirs (made of large rectangular limestone blocks) are in place, and the bank trail is being worked on now. It's a series of pools about 20-30 yards long each, with a drop chute from each to the next. The chutes are obviously sized for easy passage of canoes, and the drops are small, maybe a foot or two.