The Platte River Hatchery's New Loop Opens Up Honor's Off-Season River

Riverside Canoes on North Scenic Highway has already moved on to 2027. Its homepage lists next season's opening as May 1 at 9 a.m., and its posted schedule runs from May 1 to mid-October, so that window has already closed. Up the road, the Cherry Bowl Drive-In thanked its patrons for a 73rd season. The season's final weekend came early in the month and included the third annual Trunk or Treat on Saturday, October 10.

The tubes, the paddlers and the movie crowds are gone, and the Platte River near Honor now has a different set of visitors: steelhead heading upstream, anglers following them, and anyone who wants to walk down to the weir. This year that walk is easier than ever. The state hatchery just finished a project that runs a paved, accessible loop from its buildings to the river.

The Summer River Has Closed for the Year

Honor's warm-weather businesses run on fixed seasons, and most of those seasons ended in October.

The Cherry Bowl also had a change at the top this year. In May 2026, Crain's Detroit Business named Mindi Jarman as the drive-in's new owner and described her work as preserving and updating the theater. The theater books its movies week by week and doesn't post schedules far in advance, so next summer's lineup will show up on its website once bookings are made.

With the liveries closed, the river no longer runs on rental schedules. Water that carried paddlers and tubers in August is now visited mostly from the banks, and the busiest stretch of bank is at the hatchery.

The Hatchery Finished Its Two-Phase Rebuild This Summer

The Platte River State Fish Hatchery has finished a multi-year accessibility renovation paid for by a $300,000 grant from the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund, 9&10 News reported on October 14. The designs followed a site audit and recommendations from the Disability Network of Northern Michigan.

The work came in two phases. The first, finished in 2025, covered the basics: curb cuts in the parking lot, van-accessible parking spaces, wider entryways, soft-closing doors and new interpretive signs along the river.

The second phase, finished this summer, changes how a visit works. A fully accessible paved trail now loops through the whole hatchery grounds. It passes the indoor buildings, runs along the outdoor fish raceways and continues down to the Upper Platte River weir and the coho salmon holding ponds. The same phase added an outdoor bike rack and an accessible pavilion built for school groups, field trips and large tours.

Paul Stowe, the hatchery's natural resources manager, explained the purpose to 9&10 News:

"Now, more guests can explore this historic facility and learn about Michigan's hatcheries and fisheries. These improvements have met and even exceeded Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines for accessible design, improving the experience of visiting our hatchery for all guests."

The loop opened in time for the hatchery's busiest season, when coho are held and spawned on site in October. The Michigan DNR says adult salmon return to spawn from mid-September to late October, so that busy stretch is over. The loop stays, and November is the first stretch of the year with the new trail in place and no crowds.

The Basics for a Weekday Walk

The hatchery uses a Beulah mailing address but sits on US 31 between Honor and Beulah. The Michigan DNR's hatchery page lists the details:

• Address: 15210 US 31, Beulah, MI 49617
• Cost: free
• Grounds: open every day, dawn to dusk
• Hatchery buildings: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Group tours: scheduled by calling 231-325-4611
• What it raises: coho, Chinook and Atlantic salmon, plus walleye
• On site: educational facilities and trails, a lower weir harvest and passage facility, an upper weir egg collection station, and a trailhead for state trails and an area bird tour

At this time of year, the gap between those two closing times matters. The grounds and the new loop stay open until dusk, but the buildings close at 4 p.m. If you want to see the indoor facilities after work or school, plan around that earlier closing.

The site has a long history. The DNR says the facility was established in 1928 and became the state's primary salmon hatchery in 1972. It calls Platte River the birthplace of the Great Lakes salmon program and the main egg collection site for coho salmon in the upper Great Lakes. The October run on this river feeds the coho program across the upper lakes, and the new paved trail now goes right past the weir where that run is collected.

Steelhead Follow the Salmon Up the Same Water

The weir is only one part of the river's fall. In its October 28, 2026 weekly fishing report, the DNR said anglers had taken a few remaining salmon in both the Betsie and the Platte, and that early reports showed steelhead starting to move into both rivers.

That report is the last DNR fishing update covering this part of the state for a while. The November 4 bulletin gave no conditions for the Northwest Lower Peninsula and said the weekly report would be suspended after that issue. It suggested checking local bait shops in the meantime. The DNR's weekly report page also sends anglers to local bait shops, sporting goods stores, outfitters and their social media accounts.

Rules for the river are in the DNR's own documents. The 2026 Michigan Fishing Regulations stay in effect through March 31, 2027, and that page links to the inland trout and salmon map. The DNR's Fisheries Orders page lists the statewide trout and salmon order, the spawning closures and the designated trout streams under separate numbers. Check those sources for any specific stretch of the Platte before you fish it.

River Reports Now Come From Shops in Honor and Benzonia

With the weekly DNR report paused, up-to-date river information comes from local businesses, and the Benzie County Chamber directory lists only a few nearby.

Backcast Fly Shop / Benzie Pets is listed at 1675 Benzie Hwy in Benzonia, phone 231-882-5222. During its season, Riverside Canoes sells live bait and fishing licenses along with tackle, hooks, rigs, nightcrawlers, rods and reels, and waders. Its posted calendar ended in mid-October, though, so the Benzonia shop is the more likely stop this month.

Off the river, the village's everyday businesses sit close together on Main Street:

• Honor Family Market, 10625 Main St., 231-325-3360
• Honor Building Supply, 10635 Main St., 231-325-4551, listed with hours Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed Saturday and Sunday
• Platte River Inn, 10921 Main St., listed on Michigan.org as open seven days a week in spring, summer, fall and winter

Of these, the Platte River Inn is the one listed as open year-round. Honor Building Supply's weekday hours mean a Saturday hardware run needs to happen on Friday. The hatchery grounds stay open on weekends. In November, a weekday afternoon is the best time to see both the indoor hatchery and Main Street, while a weekend visit to the river works best before dusk and with your supplies bought ahead of time.

Riverside Canoes reopens for the 2027 season on May 1.

If you're thinking about life along the Platte, or anywhere in Benzie or Leelanau counties, through every season, Team Shimek knows which roads, shops and riverbanks stay busy in November. Schedule a free consultation, and we'll talk about what the off-season looks like from the place you're considering.