The Coldwater River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed May 19, 2011

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...

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, ...

. Located in

western Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for a region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Generally, it refers to the Grand Rapids- Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Peninsula's Lake ...

, the river is a part of the Grand River

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

. The Coldwater River flows through Barry and

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

counties, and the drainage basin also includes a large portion of southwest Ionia County and a tiny portion of Sunfield Township in the northwest corner of

Eaton County Eaton County is a Counties of the United States, county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 109,175. The county seat is Charlotte, Michigan, Charlotte. The county was organized in 1837 and was ...

. The Coldwater is formed from the Little Thornapple River in Carlton Township in Barry County. It flows northerly for a few miles and then flows mostly west until emptying into the

Thornapple River The Thornapple River (Ottawa dialect, Ottawa: ''Sowanquesake'', "Forked River") (Geographic Names Information System, GNIS ID #) is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed Ma ...

in southern Caledonia Township at . Major tributaries (from the mouth): *Clarke and Bunker Drain (draining a complex of small lakes in Bowne Township *Tyler Creek (AKA Bear Creek), rises from the confluence of Pratt Lake Creek and Bear Creek in eastern Bowne Township **Walton Drain, rises in western Campbell Township in Ionia County ***Bond Drain, rises in western Campbell Township in Ionia County **Pratt Lake Drain, rises from the outflow of Pratt Lake in southeast Lowell Township ***Kilgus Branch, rises in southeast Lowell Township **Bear Creek, rises in southern Boston Township, just north of the village of Clarksville ***Peddler Lake Drain, rises from the outflow of Peddler Lake in Campbell Township *Duck Creek, rises in northeast Odessa Township in Ionia County *Geieger Drain, rises in northeast Irving Township, just west of the village of Freeport, in Barry County *Stecklee Drain, a small drain on the east side of Freeport *Bullhead Drain, rises in eastern Irving Township, south of Freeport *Bird Drain, rises in western Carlton Township in Barry County *Messer Brook, rises in southwest Odessa Township, just northwest of the village of Lake Odessa **Kart Creek, rises in eastern Campbell Township *Drainage from Lower Lake in south central Carlton Township *Little Thornapple River, rises from the outflow of Jordan Lake **Mallson Ditch/Drain, rising in northeast Carlton Township **Woodland Creek, rises near the village of

Woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

in Woodland Township **Jordan Lake, on the boundary between Barry and Ionia counties **Tupper Lake, in Odessa Township, Ionia County ***Tupper Creek, rises in western Sebewa Township in Ionia County

References

* * , Coldwater River Watershed Council, 2002 (accessed 2007-04-08)
watershed map
of the Coldwater watershed from the

Michigan Department of Environmental Quality The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), formerly Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (Michigan DEQ, MDEQ, or simply DEQ), is a principal department of the U.S. state of Michigan for environmental issues. T ...

site (accessed 2006-12-19)

External links

Coldwater River Watershed Council
Barry, Eaton, Ionia, and Kent counties

in Kent county, managed and owned by West Michigan Trout Unlimited
Coldwater River Watershed Hydrologic Study
Dave Fongers, Hydrologic Studies Unit, Geological and Land Management Division, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, October 24, 2003 {{authority control Rivers of Michigan Rivers of Barry County, Michigan Rivers of Kent County, Michigan Tributaries of Lake Michigan