The Rankin River is a river in the town of
South Bruce Peninsula,
Bruce County in
southwestern Ontario
Southwestern Ontario is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It occupies most of the Ontario Peninsula bounded by Lake Huron, including Georgian Bay, to the north and northwest; the St. Clair River, Lake St. ...
, Canada which flows from the east side of the
Bruce Peninsula to join the
Sauble River near
Sauble Falls Provincial Park
Sauble Falls Provincial Park is located in the town of South Bruce Peninsula, Bruce County in southwestern Ontario, Canada, west of Owen Sound. It is in the lower drainage basin of the Sauble River, which flows into Lake Huron. The campground c ...
on the west side. The river is in the
Lake Huron
Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrology, Hydrologically, it comprises the easterly portion of Lake Michigan–Huron, having the same surface elevation as Lake Michigan, to which it is connected by the , Strait ...
drainage basin and was named after
Charles Rankin
Charles Rankin, (1797 − 1886 or 12 October 1888) was an early Irish-born and Scottish-descended settler and land surveyor in Upper Canada (the predecessor to the province of Ontario, Canada). He is significant due to his role in the surveyin ...
, who first surveyed the Bruce Peninsula.
Course
The Rankin River begins at Berford Lake about southeast of the community of
Mar, and flows west over Berford Dam,
then under
Ontario Highway 6 to Isaac Lake, where it takes in the right tributary Albemarle Brook arriving from Sky Lake. The river heads south to Boat Lake where it receives the left tributary Clavering Creek at Jordan Bay. It heads south out of the lake over Rankin Dam,
then southwest to its mouth at the Sauble River, just upriver of the community of
Sauble Falls.
In addition to the Rankin River drainage basin lying in the town of South Bruce Peninsula in Bruce County, portions of the tributary Clavering Creek drainage basin lie in
Georgian Bluffs
Georgian Bluffs is a township in southwestern Ontario, Canada, in Grey County located between Colpoy's Bay and Owen Sound on Georgian Bay.
The township was incorporated on January 1, 2001, by amalgamating the former townships of Derby, Keppel, ...
in Grey County, Ontario, Grey County.
History
During the 18th century, this river was part of a portage from Georgian Bay across the Bruce Peninsula used by fur traders. In the second half of the 19th century, large numbers of passenger pigeons nested along the river. The river is now popular for recreational canoeing and kayaking.
Natural history
The river hosts fish species such as bass, Bowfin, northern pike, pickerel and perch, as well as trout and salmon during their spawning seasons. Whereas the entire Rankin River drainage basin has excellent (greater than 35%) forest cover, the riparian zones have only fair (25% to 50%) forest cover. Water chemistry was excellent but Benthic zone, benthic species were only fair.
Tributaries
*Clavering Creek (left)
*Albemarle Brook (right)
See also
*List of rivers of Ontario
References
Sources
*
*
{{refend
Portages in Canada
Rivers of Bruce County