Boat launches · Lake Erie · Michigan

Boat Launches Near Monroe

15 public launches within 20 miles of downtown Monroe, Michigan, 14 of them trailer ramps. The nearest is Bolles Harbor, 3.1 miles S.

Within 20 mi

Trailer ramps

Closest

3.1 mi

Closest first

Public launches around Monroe

Straight-line distance and direction from downtown, not a driving or boating route. Every figure is what the agency publishes; a blank means the agency is silent.

3.1 mi S
Bolles HarborLaPlaisance Creek
Trailer ramp · 15 lanes, 294 trailer spacesDirections
3.2 mi E
Bartnik in Sterling State ParkSandy Creek
Trailer ramp · 10 lanes, 302 trailer spacesDirections
8.3 mi S
City of Luna Pier
Trailer rampDirections
12 mi NE
Mouillee Creek Mouth
Trailer rampDirections
13 mi NE
Huron River Mouth
Trailer ramp · 2 lanes, 50 trailer spacesDirections
14 mi S
President Drive LaunchOttawa River · Washington Township · OH
Trailer rampDirections
14 mi S
Belpre Drive LaunchOttawa River · Washington Township · OH
Trailer rampDirections
14 mi S
Hammond Drive LaunchOttawa River · Washington Township · OH
Trailer rampDirections
15 mi S
Howard Pinkley LandingOttawa River · Toledo · OH
Hand / carry-in launchDirections
15 mi S
Cullen ParkMaumee Bay · Toledo · OH
Trailer rampDirections
15 mi NE
Lake Erie Metropark
Trailer rampDirections
16 mi S
Bayshore Fishing AccessMaumee Bay · Oregon · OH
Trailer rampDirections
18 mi S
Lucas County Cooley Canal Boat RampCooley Canal · Jerusalem Township · OH
Trailer rampDirections
18 mi NE
Elizabeth Park
Trailer rampDirections
20 mi NE
Harrison Ave
Trailer ramp · 2 lanesDirections

Once you're off the trailer

What to fish out of Monroe

Our Lake Erie fishing guides name water reached from these launches for 1 species:

Muskellunge · September through November, with October the best windowLake Erie Muskie Fishing: Where to Fish & Fall TacticsThe Detroit River mouth and Brest Bay: The far western corner off Monroe, Michigan, where the Detroit River enters Erie. Fish moving down out of the Lake St. Clair system show up here, and they are the largest muskellunge caught in Erie water.

Brown Trout on Erie Lake Trout on Erie Northern Pike on Erie Smallmouth Bass on Erie Steelhead on Erie Walleye on Erie Yellow Perch on Erie

Before you launch

Lake Erie is big water

Erie is the shallowest Great Lake and the quickest to turn. A sustained blow builds a short, breaking sea in a couple of hours, and summer squalls can arrive from the west with little warning. In the western basin, mind the reefs; on the run to the islands, mind how far you are from shelter.

Wind against a shallow basin. Erie stacks up faster and steeper than any lake on the chain — a sustained 20-knot wind over 60 feet of average depth builds a short, breaking four-to-six-foot sea in a couple of hours. Boats swamp here in weather that would be uncomfortable elsewhere.
Unstable ice. Western-basin ice moves. Anglers have been carried off on detached floes and taken off by helicopter more than once, most infamously with over a hundred people at a time.
Fast-moving line squalls in summer, often arriving from the west with little warning behind a hot afternoon.

Read how to read a Great Lakes marine forecast and trailering and launching on big water. Pack the big-water safety kit.

Camp or picnic

State parks

Sterling State Park3.3 mi
Maumee Bay State Park16 mi

For the crew ashore

Beaches

Sterling State Park3.5 mi

Landmarks from the water

Lighthouses

Questions

Where is the closest public boat launch to Monroe?

Bolles Harbor, about 3.1 miles S of downtown in a straight line.

How many public boat launches are near Monroe?

State agency data lists 15 public launches within 20 miles: 14 trailer ramps and 1 unimproved or carry-in sites, on Lake Erie and the bays and rivers that run into it.

What is the biggest boat ramp near Monroe?

By the lane and trailer-parking counts the agencies publish, Bolles Harbor (15 lanes, 294 trailer spaces). Not every agency publishes those counts, so 11 of the 15 sites here could not be ranked.

Do boat launches near Monroe charge a fee?

Ohio's coastal access inventory lists no ramp fee for 6 of them. The other 9 do not publish fee information, which does not mean they are free; city and park launches often sell a daily or season pass. Confirm with the manager before you tow.

Who sets the fishing rules on Lake Erie near Monroe?

Michigan DNR and Ohio DNR Division of Wildlife. Seasons, limits and license rules change, so read the current regulations before you go.

Up and down the shore

Launches near other Erie towns

Toledo, OH · 20 mi Wyandotte, MI · 24 mi Detroit, MI · 34 mi Port Clinton, OH · 37 mi St. Clair Shores, MI · 48 mi Sandusky, OH · 48 mi

Source

Launch facts are from Michigan DNR, State Sponsored Developed Boating Access Sites and Ohio DNR Office of Coastal Management, Lake Erie Public Access, retrieved 2026-10-27. Ramps close for repairs, fees change and water levels move; confirm with the manager before you tow. Fishing rules are set by Michigan DNR and Ohio DNR Division of Wildlife.

Downtown positions are approximate. Chart shoreline generalized from Natural Earth (public domain); not for navigation. Something wrong or missing? Write to contact@greatamericanlakes.com.

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