BirdTroutOpen the map How to get to the South Branch Au Sable River, Michigan
MDNR's access file puts 20 public sites on the South Branch Au Sable River — 15 walk-in sites and 5 launches, spread over Crawford and Roscommon. 9 blocks of public land touch the river, which is where you can stand without asking — 208,539 acres between them, counting each unit whole rather than the part beside the water. The nearest town we map is Roscommon, 3.9 miles from the river's midpoint in a straight line, with the water east of the town.
Nearest towns
| Town | Distance | Direction to the river |
|---|---|---|
| Roscommon | 3.9 mi | east |
| Grayling | 14.4 mi | south-east |
| Gaylord | 36.7 mi | south |
| Cadillac | 47.1 mi | east |
Straight-line distance from the river's midpoint, and the direction you would travel from the town to reach it. The roads are not mapped here, so there is no drive time — a travel time nobody measured is the kind of number that gets somebody lost.
Public access sites
| Site | Type | River mile | County |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meads Landing (fee) | canoe launch | 20.3 | — |
| Steckert Bridge (fee) | boat launch | 18.3 | — |
| South Branch Au Sable River Deerheart Valley Road Ending | walk in | 16.9 | Crawford |
| Chase Bridge (fee) | canoe launch | 15.8 | — |
| South Branch Au Sable River Potters Landing | walk in | 14.9 | Crawford |
| South Branch Au Sable River Forest Rest | walk in | 14.8 | Crawford |
| South Branch Au Sable River Swamp | walk in | 13.8 | Crawford |
| South Branch Au Sable River Durants Hangar | walk in | 12.9 | Crawford |
| South Branch Au Sable River Durants Castle | walk in | 12.5 | Crawford |
| South Branch Au Sable River High Banks | walk in | 12.0 | Crawford |
| South Branch Au Sable River Lower High Banks | walk in | 11.7 | Crawford |
| South Branch Au Sable River Upper Baldwins | walk in | 9.5 | Crawford |
| South Branch Au Sable River Downeys Stairs | walk in | 8.8 | Crawford |
| South Branch Au Sable River Downeys Stone Wall | walk in | 8.5 | Crawford |
| South Branch Au Sable River Downeys North and South | walk in | 8.1 | Crawford |
| South Branch Au Sable River Lelands Lot | walk in | 8.0 | Crawford |
| Canoe Harbor State Forest Campground (fee) | canoe launch | 6.7 | — |
| Smith Bridge (fee) | boat launch | 5.6 | — |
| South Branch Au Sable River Truettner Tract | walk in | 4.4 | Crawford |
| Au Sable River At White Pine Campground | walk in | 0.6 | Crawford |
15 walk-in, 5 launches, from MDNR's own access file. River mile is measured up from the mouth along this river's drawn axis.
Public land on the water
- Roscommon Management Unit — Michigan DNR, 103,956 acres in all
- Au Sable State Forest - Grayling Unit — Michigan Department of Natural Resources, 89,732 acres in all
- Au Sable State Forest - Roscommon Unit — Michigan Department of Natural Resources, 8,044 acres in all
- Forest Fire Experimental Station — Michigan DNR, 5,278 acres in all
- Tisdale Triangle — Michignan DNR, 1,493 acres in all
- Local Forest — County, 34 acres in all
- Meads Landing — Michigan Department of Natural Resources, 2 acres in all
- Steckert Bridge River Access — Michigan Department of Natural Resources, 1 acre in all
- Wallace Park — public, 1 acre in all
Ownership from PAD-US as the state publishes it. Where a block has its own page, the name links to it.
More about South Branch Au Sable River
South Branch Au Sable River — live water temperature, regulations and access
- Is the South Branch Au Sable River good for brook trout?
- Is the South Branch Au Sable River good for brown trout?
- Is the South Branch Au Sable River good for rainbow trout?
- When to fish the South Branch Au Sable River, Michigan
- South Branch Au Sable River fishing report
- South Branch Au Sable River fishing regulations