The Ontonagon River ( ) is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the ...

flowing into

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh w ...

at the village of Ontonagon, on the western

Upper Peninsula The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

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 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. The main stem of the river is long''The American Rivers Outstanding Rivers List'', Second Edition, May 1991. Compiled and edited by Matthew H. Huntington and John D. Echeverria. Washington, DC: American Rivers, Inc. and is formed by a confluence of several longer branches, portions of which have been collectively designated as a

National Wild and Scenic River The National Wild and Scenic Rivers System was created by the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 (Public Law 90-542), enacted by the U.S. Congress to preserve certain rivers with outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values in a free- ...

. Several waterfalls occur on the river including Agate Falls and

Bond Falls Bond Falls is a waterfall on the middle branch of the Ontonagon River, a few miles east of Paulding in Haight Township in southern Ontonagon County, Michigan. The site is near U.S. Highway 45 in the western portion of the Upper Peninsula of Mic ...

Course

The Ontonagon River's principal tributaries are its West, South, Middle and East branches, all of which flow in part through the

Ottawa National Forest The Ottawa National Forest is a national forest that covers in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It includes much of Gogebic and Ontonagon counties, as well as slices of Iron, Houghton, Baraga, and Marquette counties. Th ...

: *The West Branch Ontonagon River is entirely contained in Ontonagon County. It begins at the outlet of Lake Gogebic near the community of Bergland and flows generally east-northeastwardly for approximately ,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed February 3, 2012 collecting the South Branch and passing through a dam which forms the Victoria Reservoir. *The South Branch Ontonagon River is formed in southwestern Ontonagon County by the confluence of the short Tenmile Creek and the Cisco Branch Ontonagon River. The Cisco Branch starts in Cisco Lake in eastern

Gogebic County Gogebic County ( ) is the westernmost county in the Upper Peninsula in the U.S. state of Michigan, and the westernmost in the state as a whole. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 14,380. The county seat is Bessemer. This was historical ...

and flows generally north-northeastwardly for to the South Branch, which then flows northwardly for , passing the community of

Ewen Ewen is a male given name, most common throughout Scotland as well as Canada, due to the immigration of Scottish people. It is an anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic name, Eòghann. It is possibly a derivative of the Pictish name, ''Uuen'' ...

, to join the West Branch. *The Middle Branch Ontonagon River, long, issues from Crooked Lake in eastern Gogebic County and initially flows eastwardly, passing the community of Watersmeet. After collecting the Tamarack River, the Middle Branch turns northwardly into Ontonagon County, where it collects the Baltimore River and joins the East Branch. *The East Branch Ontonagon River, long, issues from Jingle Lake in northern Iron County and flows generally northwestwardly through

Houghton County Houghton County is a county in the Upper Peninsula in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 37,361. The county seat and largest city is Houghton. Both the county and the city were named for Michigan State geo ...

into Ontonagon County, where it joins the Middle Branch. Below the confluence of its various branches, the Ontonagon River flows generally north-northwestwardly for in Ontonagon County to the village of Ontonagon, where it flows into

National Wild and Scenic River designation

On March 3, 1992, the following reaches of the Ontonagon's upper tributaries were collectively designated the Ontonagon National Wild and Scenic River: The upper courses of the East and Middle branches in the

; the Cisco Branch in its entirety; and approximately the middle section of the West Branch, from Cascade Falls to the Victoria Reservoir.

Other historical significance

During the mid-19th century, a very large mass of solid, nearly pure

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish ...

, the Ontonagon Boulder, was removed from the Ontonagon River. It now is in the Smithsonian

National Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. In 2021, with ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

References

{{Authority control Rivers of Michigan Wild and Scenic Rivers of the United States Rivers of Gogebic County, Michigan Rivers of Houghton County, Michigan Rivers of Iron County, Michigan Rivers of Ontonagon County, Michigan Tributaries of Lake Superior

Course

National Wild and Scenic River designation

Other historical significance

See also

References