The Cut is a small river located entirely within Roscommon County in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. The river begins at

Higgins Lake Higgins Lake is a large recreational and fishing lake in Roscommon County, in the U.S. state of Michigan. The lake is known for its deep, clear waters and is the 10th largest in Michigan with a shoreline of . It is named after Sylvester Higgins ...

and meanders to Houghton Lake at a length of approximately . It also passes through the small

Marl Lake A marl lake is a type of alkaline lake whose bottom sediments include large deposits of marl, a mixture of clay minerals, clay and carbonate minerals. The term is particularly applied to lakes that have been dredged or mined for marl, often for ...

within

South Higgins Lake State Park South Higgins Lake State Park is a public recreation area covering on the southern shore of Higgins Lake five miles southwest of Roscommon in Roscommon County, Michigan. The state park occupies one mile of shoreline on Higgins Lake and entirel ...

near its source.

Activities

Historically, the Cut River served to transport lumber from the Higgins Lake area to Houghton Lake. Portions of the river were dredged to allow for lumber transport during the late-1800s, although no remnant of this exist today. The Cut is a popular fishing destination because of its calm, undeveloped, and scenic environment, which allows for easy use for smaller canoes and kayaks. A single public access point is available at Marl Lake. The river only has three bridge crossings: East Higgins Lake Drive, West Lansing Road, and near its mouth along East Houghton Lake Drive (County Road 100). A small dam was constructed near the river head, which prevents navigating from Houghton Lake to Higgins Lake without portaging over the dam at Higgins Lake.

Water levels

The river serves an important purpose to regulate the water level within Higgins Lake, which also affects the water level of Houghton Lake. A small dam was constructed across the Cut River near Higgins Lake for this purpose. A bridge along East Higgins Lake Drive passes over the inconspicuous dam. The

Michigan Department of Natural Resources The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is the agency of the state of Michigan founded in 1921, charged with maintaining natural resources such as state parks, state forests, and recreation areas. It is governed by a director appoint ...

closely monitors the water levels within the Cut River, as it is a popular spawning location for walleye in Houghton Lake. Because of the small dam, fish within Houghton Lake can no longer travel to Higgins Lake. Depending on the fluctuating water level within Higgins Lake, the Cut River may endure periods of very low water levels that can adversely affect fish populations. Other common fish along the river include

smallmouth bass The smallmouth bass (''Micropterus dolomieu'') is a species of freshwater fish in the Centrarchidae, sunfish family (biology), family (Centrarchidae) of the order (biology), order Centrarchiformes. It is the type species of its genus ''Micropterus ...

yellow perch The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Samuel Latham Mitchill fr ...

trout Trout (: trout) is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the ...

, and

northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (pikes). They are commonly found in brackish water, moderately salty and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). T ...

. The river has a very low watershed until it meets with Backus Creek nearer Houghton Lake. In recent years, residents along the Higgins Lake shoreline have complained about increasing

coastal erosion Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of Wind wave, waves, Ocean current, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts ...

because of rising water levels within Higgins Lake, which are controlled by the small dam along the Cut River. Scientific evaluation constantly monitors the water level and flow within the Cut River, as it can affect the water levels of Higgins Lake, Houghton Lake, and even leading to the

Muskegon River The Muskegon River ( ) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed November 21, 2011 river in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. Fr ...

going to

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 depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...

References

Rivers of Michigan Rivers of Roscommon County, Michigan {{Michigan-river-stub