Muskegon River
Muskegon River | |
River | |
Country | United States |
---|---|
State | Michigan |
Cities | Evart, Big Rapids, Croton, Newaygo, Muskegon |
Source | Houghton Lake [1] |
- coordinates | 44°23′58″N 84°47′27″W / 44.39944°N 84.79083°W |
Mouth | Muskegon Lake |
- location | Muskegon, MI |
- coordinates | 43°15′41″N 86°14′53″W / 43.26139°N 86.24806°W |
Length | 216 mi (348 km) |
Basin | 3,250 sq mi (8,417 km2) |
The Muskegon River is a river in the western portion of the lower peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The river has its headwaters in Houghton Lake in Roscommon County, flowing out of the North Bay into neighboring Missaukee County. From there it flows mostly southwest to Muskegon, Michigan, where it empties into Muskegon Lake. Muskegon Lake is connected to Lake Michigan via a mile-long channel. The river has several major branches, such as the Hersey River, Cedar Creek and Little Muskegon River. The main stream is 216 miles (348 km) long[2] and drains an area of 3,250 square miles (8,400 km2).[3]
Contents |
[edit] History
Like many of its neighboring streams, the Muskegon was one of the favored logging rivers during the boom years of the 1880s-1890s, and a keen eye can still pick out remnants of stray logs left over from the spring logging runs which are embedded on the river bottom.
[edit] Wildlife
There is abundant wildlife, including otters, waterfowl, deer and eagles and, although development has been creeping in, the upper reaches are still fairly remote and natural with much of the surrounding land composed of state-owned tracts.
[edit] Recreation
In recent years, the river has gained a certain measure of fame as a recreational fishery, boasting large migratory steelhead, brown trout and planted Pacific salmon.
[edit] Dams
The three major dams of the Muskegon River (Rogers, Hardy and Croton) generate about 45,600 kilowatts, with about 30,000 of that from Hardy Dam. That is enough electricity to serve a community of nearly 23,000.[4]
Name | Height | Purpose(s) | Capacity (MW) | Year | Owner name | Reservoir name | Coordinates | Comments |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Croton | 40 ft (12.2 m) | Hydroelectric | 8.85 | 1907 | Consumers Energy | Croton Dam Pond | 43°26′14″N 85°39′50″W / 43.43714°N 85.66382°W | |
Hardy | 106 ft (32.3 m) | Hydroelectric | 30 | 1931 | Consumers Energy | Hardy Dam Pond | 43°29′12″N 85°37′47″W / 43.48656°N 85.6296°W | |
Rogers | 43 ft (13.1 m) | Hydroelectric | 6.75 | 1906 | Consumers Energy | Rogers Dam Pond | 43°36′48″N 85°28′44″W / 43.61320°N 85.47894°W | |
Total | 45.6 |
[edit] References
- ^ "Muskegon River". Geographic Names Information System, U.S. Geological Survey. http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:1620965.
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed November 21, 2011
- ^ O'Neal, Richard (July 1997), Muskegon River Watershed Assessment, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, http://www.dnr.state.mi.us/publications/pdfs/IFR/ifrlibra/Special/reports/sr19/sr19Text&Tables.pdf, retrieved 30 July 2011
- ^ "Muskegon River". Consumers Energy website. http://www.consumersenergy.com/content.aspx?id=1342. Retrieved July 30, 2011.