Ontonagon
Hwy.45 to Ontonagon (20 miles)
| Difficulty | I(II) |
| Length | 18.3 mi |
| Avg Gradient | 3 fpm |
| Gauge | Ontonagon River Near Rockland, Mi |
| Flow Rate as of 52 minutes | 794 cfslow runnable |
| Reach Info Last Updated | February 21, 2009 |
River Description
Canoe tripping run (20 miles, at only 3 FPM average gradient). It may be possible to shorten the run a bit using alternate accesses.
'Grand Rapids' (at Lat/Lng 46.7640, -89.2717) is the whitewater highlight of the run.
USGS aerial image resolution on Google is quite good. Go to the 'Map' tab, click 'USGS Aerial', and double-click near (not 'on') any of the markers on the river (put-in, take-out, or Grand Rapids), then zoom in to maximum resolution, and do a 'virtual walk' of the river.
River Features
Grand Rapids
This is the only marked, named rapids on this reach. We have no specific information on the nature of this rapids. However, from the 'Map' tab ('USGS Aerial' view, zoomed in to maximum resolution) it appears to be an area of rubble shoals, leading to an island (making for some likely 'constriction waves').
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportCanoed this with my dog last weekend. Put on at highway 45 and took out at the marina in Ontonagon. It is roughly 24 river miles from highway 45 to the marina and a canoe river the whole way. There were some riffles and Irish Rapid or something and then Grand Rapids at 12 miles in. All the rapids are read and run class I and we were great in the canoe with one of the paddlers being a dog. This is American Whitewater, no one who comes here for beta needs to know anything to be okay here, its a canoe river. The confluence with W.Branch Ontonagon is 1.75 miles in, the only road/bridge is 4 miles in, and otherwise its wide open river the whole way. That 3 fpm value is pretty accurate, its all moving flatwater. Bring extra beer.