The Montreal River is a

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 w ...

flowing to

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 wa ...

in northern

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 ...

and the

Upper Peninsula of Michigan 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 ...

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 territori ...

. It is longU.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed May 1, 2012 and drains approximately in a forested region. For most of its length, the river's course defines a portion of the Wisconsin–Michigan border. 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 ...

name for the river is ''Gaa-waasijiwaang'', meaning "where there is

whitewater Whitewater forms in a rapid context, in particular, when a river's gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that froths, making the water appear opaque and ...

View on Montreal River, by Whitney & Zimmerman crop

The Montreal River issues from Pine Lake in the town of Oma in eastern Iron County in northern Wisconsin. It flows initially northwardly to the boundary between Iron County and Gogebic County, Michigan, then northwestwardly along the state line, past the 'twin cities' of

Hurley, Wisconsin Hurley is a city in and the county seat of Iron County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,547 at the 2010 census. It is located directly across the Montreal River from Ironwood, Michigan. History Hurley is located on the Montrea ...

and

Ironwood, Michigan Ironwood is a city in Gogebic County in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, about south of Lake Superior. The city is on US Highway 2 across the Montreal River from Hurley, Wisconsin. It is the westernmost city in Michigan ...

. Downstream of Ironwood and Hurley the Montreal River passes over four named waterfalls. Starting below

U.S. Route 2 U.S. Route 2 or U.S. Highway 2 (US 2) is an east–west United States Numbered Highways, U.S. Highway spanning across the northern continental United States. US 2 consists of two segments connected by various roadways in southern ...

and going downstream (north), they are Peterson, Interstate, Saxon, and Superior Falls; the last two located just upstream of the river's mouth at Lake Superior. The river enters Oronto Bay on the southwestern shore of Lake Superior approximately northwest of Ironwood, at Michigan's westernmost point. The West Fork Montreal River issues from Island Lake in central Iron County and flows generally northwardly, roughly in parallel to the Montreal River, past the city of

Montreal, Wisconsin Montreal is a city in Iron County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 807 at the 2010 census. The neighborhood of Gile is part of the city; however, it still has its own post office and ZIP code: 54525. Like Gile, the former unincorpor ...

. It flows into the Montreal River downstream of Hurley. There are four named waterfalls on the West Fork Montreal River: Kimball Falls, Rock Cut Falls, Gile Falls, and Spring Camp Falls.

Geographic Names Information System The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories, Antarctica, and the associated states of ...

. Feature ID #1574607 pring Camp Falls Retrieved on 2008-04-11. Both forks of the Montreal River flow through the

Gogebic Range The Gogebic Range is an elongated area of iron ore deposits located within a range of hills in northern Michigan and Wisconsin just south of Lake Superior. It extends from Lake Namakagon in Wisconsin eastward to Lake Gogebic in Michigan, or alm ...

, a range of hills near Hurley and Ironwood. The rivers are located in the

Laurentian Mixed Forest Province The Laurentian Mixed Forest Province, also known as the North Woods, is a forested ecoregion in eastern North America. Among others, this terminology has been adopted by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Similar, though not n ...

(north woods) region of the upper midwest.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Montreal River (Wisconsin-Michigan) Rivers of Michigan Rivers of Wisconsin Rivers of Gogebic County, Michigan Rivers of Iron County, Wisconsin Borders of Michigan Borders of Wisconsin Tributaries of Lake Superior

See also

References