The Montreal River is a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

flowing to

Lake Superior Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. Lake Michigan–Huron has a larger combined surface area than Superior, but is normally considered tw ...

in northern

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

and the

Upper Peninsula of Michigan The Upper Peninsula of Michigan—also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. or Yoop—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 of ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. 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 (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...

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

whitewater Whitewater forms in the context of rapids, in particular, when a river's Stream gradient, gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that foam, froths, making t ...

". 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 Gogebic County ( or ) is a County (United States), county in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 14,380. The county seat is Besse ...

, 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 1,558 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is located directly across the Montreal River (Wisconsin–Michigan), Montreal River from ...

and

Ironwood, Michigan Ironwood is a city in Gogebic County, Michigan, Gogebic County in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, about south of Lake Superior. The city is on U.S. Route 2 in Michigan, US Highway 2 across the Montreal River (Wisconsin-Michig ...

. 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 Highway System, United States Numbered Highway spanning across the northern continental United States. US 2 consists of two segments connected ...

and going downstream (north), they are Peterson, Interstate, Saxon, and

Superior Falls Superior Falls is a waterfall situated on the Montreal River, which forms the border between Iron County, Wisconsin and Gogebic County, Michigan, United States. The falls drop before the Montreal River empties into Lake Superior at Oronto Bay. ...

; 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 801 at the 2020 census. The neighborhood of Gile is part of the city; however, it still has its own post office and ZIP code: 54550. 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 location information about more than two million physical and cultural features, encompassing the United States and its territories; the Compact of Free Association, asso ...

. 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 Upper Midwest North America in the United States and Canada. Similar, though not necessarily entirely identical regions, are identified by t ...

(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