This spring, Pete Harder and I had an opportunity to Kayak the Ruscom River in Lakeshore. This was the last river in Essex County that I had not yet paddled so I was looking forward to exploring it.
To us the logical place to put in was where the river empties into Lake St. Clair however since we both met there in separate vehicles (proper covid protocols were being followed) we quickly realized parking tow vehicles in this area without trespassing was more challenging than we thought. After driving around looking for a good put-in location we finally decided on parking at the Golfivew Drive Lakefront Parkette, just behind Rochester Place Golf Course.
The shoreline at the parkette is rocky and if it’s rough it can be challenging but we made it work. We paddled East over to the Rivermouth and then South along the winding Ruscom River. The paddle was quite enjoyable and without exaggerating I think we estimated that we saw over 500 turtles sunning themselves on logs or anything else they could find to get out of the water. Wild Turkeys, families of geese and even a horse were all a treat for us along the river. The river slowly become more and more narrow however the river still had reasonably good depth for paddling on this early May weekend. We eventually came upon a large log jam in the river that would have been quite an ordeal to portage around, and it was getting later in the day for us so we decided to turn around. The log jam is HERE.
Not long after we turned back from the log jam we realized there was a decent put-in accessible at Geralyn Park in St. Joachim. This would also make for a great parking area, especially for anyone who would need to park with a trailer. There is a small walk from where you would park to the put-in which is HERE . Also, on the North side of County Rd. 42 backing on to the river is St. Joachim Variety, which is accessible from the river, just in case you’re thirsty or need a snack!
I very much enjoyed our day on the Ruscom River and won’t hesitate to go back and paddle it again, I highly recommend it especially for those who prefer quiet, narrow, winding waterways over rougher, bigger, lakewater paddles. However, I think that in the future I would put-in at Geralyn Park and paddle North towards the lake instead of starting at the lake. It makes parking so much easier!
Enjoy and be safe!