Au Gres, MI

Au Gres is an Arenac County city on the Au Gres River where it reaches Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron. The 2020 census counted 945 residents. Downtown Riverside Park has a splash pad, boat slips, a fishing pier, and a pavilion; the riverfront campground and the one-half-mile walkway toward the bay keep water access at the center of the local map. A four-mile bike path, parks, a farmers market, and small-town services connect the waterfront to everyday errands.

French explorers used the name Point Au Gres, from a word for gritty stone or sandstone. A temporary settlement appeared in 1862 as workers built the Saginaw-Au Sable State Road, and a sawmill was established in the same early period. Today, fishing, boating, camping, seasonal work, and year-round city services overlap along the river. Michigan Avenue Park's historic German chapel and the route toward Charity Island add older and offshore landmarks. Au Gres is a working waterfront city where the river is a street, a park, and a way into the bay.