The Ahnapee River is a
[U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data]
The National Map
accessed December 19, 2011 river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
on the
Door Peninsula
The Door Peninsula is a peninsula in eastern Wisconsin, separating the southern part of the Green Bay (Lake Michigan), Green Bay from Lake Michigan. The peninsula includes northern Kewaunee County, Wisconsin, Kewaunee County, northeaster ...
in eastern
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. It rises in
Door County, Wisconsin
Door County is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 30,066. Its county seat is Sturgeon Bay. It is named after the strait between the Door Peninsula and Washington Island. The dangero ...
, and flows through
Kewaunee County
Kewaunee County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 20,563. Its county seat is Kewaunee. The county was created in 1852 and organized in 1859. Its Menominee name is ''Kewāneh'', an arc ...
into
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...
at the city of
Algoma. Its name has been ascribed as coming from the
Ojibwe
The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains.
According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...
word ''aanapii'' meaning "when?".
Course
The Ahnapee rises in southern Door County and flows generally southeastwardly into northeastern Kewaunee County, past the village of
Forestville, where it is
dam
A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, a ...
med. Downstream of Forestville the river becomes a
freshwater estuary of Lake Michigan and is paralleled by a
rail trail
A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...
called the
Ahnapee State Trail
The Ahnapee State Trail (also known as the Ahnapee Trail) is a multi-use trail along the Ahnapee River and the Kewaunee River in northeastern Wisconsin.
Route
Beginning in downtown Sturgeon Bay, the trail winds south along the Ahnapee and Kewau ...
.
It joins Lake Michigan at the city of Algoma. The length of the river from Forestville to Algoma has ten public access points.
Ahnapee River Water Trail Plan
by the Bay-Lake Regional Planning Commission, June 2019, page 4 (electronic page 8)
Gallery
See also
*List of Wisconsin rivers
This is a list of rivers in the U.S. state of Wisconsin.
By drainage basin
This list is arranged by drainage basin, with respective tributaries indented under each larger stream's name.
Great Lakes Drainage
Lake Michigan
*Menominee River
* ...
References
External links
Wisconsin DNR page about Ahnapee River Wetlands, including photographs
A Canoe Trip on the Ahnapee River with Herb Klein and Cal Holvenstadt
produced by Laddie Chapman, ''Sevastopol Channel 19'', Saturday May 10, 2007
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Rivers of Wisconsin
Bodies of water of Door County, Wisconsin
Bodies of water of Kewaunee County, Wisconsin