Riverside Kayak Connection

I went on a group tour with RKC on the River Rouge and around Zug Island. It was one of the coolest things I’ve done in my life.

I’ve been wanting to try kayaking for a while now, and when I found out that RKC offers a «Detroit Eastside Canal Tour» I decided to sign up. A few days before the tour, I got an email with details about where and when to meet up – it is not at their store location but a little park off of Jefferson in Detroit. The tour price includes kayak/​paddle and PFD (required). They had a variety of different sizes of boats and even had women-​specific PFDs (if you’re not a women you probably won’t understand but it was so nice to have not super-​squishy boob syndrome!)
The staff are available to get first-​timers set up and after a quick history lesson we were in the water. They have you paddle around the lagoon a little bit to get familiar and then you head out into the river. And let me just tell you, I am in reasonably good shape, but paddling up river was *hard* work. Even though it was overcast and not particularly warm I was working up a sweat even in short sleeves.
After paddling a while, they take you into these canals with tons of houses – it’s an area of Detroit I’ve never seen and honestly didn’t even know existed. It’s kind a perfect cross-​section of Detroit – many well-​maintained homes and them some boats that are half sunken into the water. You go through two separate «canal areas,» stopping periodically for a little bit of a history lesson.
I was excited about heading downstream for the return trip, but it turns out the wind on the Detroit River can be quite finicky, and me and my kayak were no match – lots of hard work again! But they have plenty of staff keeping an eye on everyone and they give helpful pointers if you’re struggling to figure things out (even though I was tired by the end, I definitely felt confident the whole time I was paddling – the boats are very stable and it’s not like those rolling kayaks you see in competition!).
I suggest bringing a snack or two (you’ll be able to eat when you’re stopped for your «history lessons»), a big bottle of water, and layers – you’ll be out on the water for a while and you will get hungry and thirsty the weather/​temp on the water is always changing. Don’t worry about having too much stuff because you can just store it in the little cubbies (I’m sure there’s an official name for them) on your kayak – they’re watertight. If you’re interested in exploring Detroit and finding off-​the-​beaten-​path activities, I highly recommend this tour!