Planning trip to Detroit/Lake St Clair

Zorba

Zorba

Active Member
May 21, 2008
1,324
East Harbor, Lake Erie
Boat Info
2006 340 Sundancer
Engines
Twin 8.1 Mercruiser
I'm in the early stages of planning this trip and looking for suggestions.

Will be leaving from the Lake Erie Islands and want to head north for a couple of days. Will be a three day trip leaving on a Wednesday and returning on Friday of Fourth of July week. Any thoughts on a good marina that is relatively family oriented. I will be traveling with three to four other boat all with kids ranging from age 1 to 15.

Appreciate and suggestions


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I recommend:

The Detroit Yacht Club (I can help you get in, but they'll accept a transient group if any of you are member of ILYA). The DYC has an indoor and an outdoor pool, a hot tub, bar, restaurant, snack bar, tennis courts, game room and a fitness center. Dogs are welcome, but with an asterisk.

St. Clair / Metro Beach Metropark: There's a beach (when it's open), an outdoor pool, waterslide, tennis courts, mini golf. It's not particularly dog friendly.

MacRay Harbor: on-site restaurant / bar, pool, play area, convenience food shop, hot-tub, fitness center, dog friendly.

All 3 of these offer great places to explore by dinghy. The latter two are isolated from a town, but the township has a free shuttle service.
 
RollerCoastr said:
I recommend:

The Detroit Yacht Club (I can help you get in, but they'll accept a transient group if any of you are member of ILYA). The DYC has an indoor and an outdoor pool, a hot tub, bar, restaurant, snack bar, tennis courts, game room and a fitness center. Dogs are welcome, but with an asterisk.

St. Clair / Metro Beach Metropark: There's a beach (when it's open), an outdoor pool, waterslide, tennis courts, mini golf. It's not particularly dog friendly.

MacRay Harbor: on-site restaurant / bar, pool, play area, convenience food shop, hot-tub, fitness center, dog friendly.

All 3 of these offer great places to explore by dinghy. The latter two are isolated from a town, but the township has a free shuttle service.
Click to expand...

I second all of these options. If you want to go a little further Algonac Harbor Club is not very far up the St.Clair river. http://www.algonacharbourclub.com/ahc1/
Love this place! Been going here since I was a kid.
 
Z- Did this trip 2 years ago - Mac Ray was really nice - It took us about 5 hours to get there although the Lake was 3-5 footers across to the Detroit river. Mac Ray was very clean - nice pool and restaurant.
 
I did MacRay to Erieau (Canadian Side, Lake Erie North) in the fall. It's a great destination. I'd suggest doing DYC for a day then heading to MacRay. There is a lot to do at both and a ton of great boating nearby.

Watch the no wake in the river. If you're headed to St. Claire its easy to find yourself in a no wake, less so when headed back to Erie.
 
The easiest way to stay out of trouble is to travel at no-wake speeds in the waters between Belle Isle and the Detroit mainland. Watch your charts for Scott's Middle Ground in the center of the river between the DYC and the bridge - I've put the dinghy prop into sand where you'd think there's 30' of water.
 
If you are already that close you may want to go a bit further up the St Clair river to see Lake Huron. My home marina (Sarnia Bay Marina) is a pretty spot to stop and is just minutes from Lake Huron. If your dollar stays as strong as it is now, it would be a great deal to visit this Canadian port!
 
Thanks all for the suggestions! I think with the travel we would like to spend two nights in the same port do leaning on stopping in Detroit for lunch and then heading into LSC to one of the harbors in the metro beach area.

Does anyone have any tracks of the route from LSC to the Detroit river or do you just stay in the shipping channel. I'm used to shallow lakes but looking at LSC she looks very shallow everywhere.


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Detroit isn't really a "stop for lunch" type of port... I wish is were. The DYC would be the best option for that, but if you stop there, you might as well stay there. Across the river from the DYC is Sinbad's, which is easy to get into and has plenty of transient wells, but IMO you'd be better off pushing on.

Up in the "Nautical Mile" of St Clair Shores there are several better options. The depths on the charts look scarier than they are. Ironically, I'm directing you to one of the few hazards on this side of the lake. As you approach The Mile (clearly distinguished by a tall stand-alone apartment building at 9 Mile Rd) a reef extends to the N-NE off of Gaulker Pt. You'll see nearly ALL of the locals cut through it, just north of the center buoy. You can see what I'm talking about on the chart. If you're not comfortable in that, there's no shame in clearing the northern buoy. Aside from that and the Middle Ground back by DYC, you shouldn't encounter anything more scary than you've seen in Sandusky Bay. (less so, I think)

There are also some options in the north end of Anchor Bay (north of MacRay) and in the Clinton River, between MacRay and the metropark.
 
Oh, one more notable mention. Check the charts for the shallows SE of the entrance of the Metropark. The charts aren't kidding. It's mostly weeds and sand, but it extends far from shore and fools a lot of people. I bet in peak season, it claims 1 prop per day.
 
There is also Keans next door to sinbads.We stopped there for the night between Cleveland and Bay city.They have a restraunt/bar,pool and limo service to all points in the area.We went by channel east side of belle isle and then came back around the tip of the island to get there.They have gas and deisel at len's gas dock in the marina and they have a store on site. Also reasonably priced transient fees.Watch for the small sailboats that race around the north end of belle isle.
 
All good options. There is also a state marina (Milliken park) in detroit south of belle isle. It is very nice and recently redone. You are only a short uber ride to downtown from there, and downtown detroit has really started to come back. There are a couple of casinos and many nice restaurants.
 
Milliken Harbor is a very nice option if you're looking to spend some time in Detroit. We spent three nights there this past September for a party in Windsor on Saturday, a Sunday night Tiger game and the Lions Monday night game. I would suggest making a reservation; Clifford the Harbormaster is very helpful and accommodating. We actually walked to Ford Field and back, but an Uber ride is probably a better option if you're not familiar with downtown Detroit (I worked downtown for over 15 years so I know the lay of the land). We will be making the harbor an annual trip as it was a great experience and we like to spend time downtown.

I can certainly attest to Belle Maer as it's my home marina and MacRay next door is very nice. The other suggestions that have been made are all good ones. On your way out the river into the lake, Jefferson Beach has restaurant options with easy docking like Brownie's and Tin Fish (formerly Beach Grille...it's where we're docked in my signature photo below in 2012). The Clinton River (between Metro Beach and Belle Maer/MacRay) is a nice slow cruise with Crew's Inn being a nice dining option. The Middle Channel has Brown's on Harsen's Island and further up Anchor Bay to Fair Haven is Island Grill which has a nice Key West feel to it.
 
Nothing like a Madison burger from Brown's. Of of my favorites on the lake. Depending on the day and time, the people watching alone could be worth the trip.

Monday is Madison Monday. Two for one.

http://www.brownsonharsens.com
 
Island grill is located in the Mayea Marina. Here is some info. I've never been (yet) but I've heard its good.

http://www.mayeamarina.com/mayea/

If you stay at Belle Maer and get a craving for pizza, call up Carlo's Pizza on South River Road. They will deliver to the marina. I'm sure they would serve MacRay as well. It's some of the best in town. Sesame sticks are addicting.
 
You got that right - that's some GOOD pie! They deliver to MacRay, and MacRay's well numbers are valid street addresses, so the driver can enter for example: "119 Evergreen, Harrison Twp" into his GPS and get directions right to your bow.
 
Guys, thanks so much for all of the suggestions. I think we are leaning towards MacRay as it has a beach and seems pretty family friendly. other than restaurants what other attractions are near that would be good for a large group with kids in tow?


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MacRay doesn't have a beach. The area immediately in front of the marina is referred to as "poor man's beach" and is usually waist deep water with a sandy bottom and lots of people swimming. Very family friendly but hardly a true beach.

Metro beach is a good family destination. Lots to do and a cheap way to spend a day.

Gull island is the only place locally that you will find a real sand beach. It's usually family friendly. I've taken my kids there numerous times. It can occasionally be an adult only party area.
 
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