West Branch Manistique River is a river in the

Upper Peninsula 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 b ...

of the U.S. state of

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, ...

. It rises in

Alger County Alger County ( ) is a county in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 8,842. It is the state's second-largest county by area, including the waters of Lake Superior. The county seat is Mu ...

, flows southeast into

Schoolcraft County Schoolcraft County ( ) is a county located in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,047, making it Michigan's fourth-least populous county. The county seat is Manistique, which lies al ...

, and discharges into the

Manistique River The Manistique River ( ') is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed December 19, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Michigan that winds southward through the central Upper Peni ...

. Its principal tributary is the Creighton River. Much of the river's course flows through wetlands that are a part of the

Lake Superior State Forest Lake Superior State Forest is a state forest in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, United States. It is operated by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. The North Country Trail utilizes this state forest for 43 miles (69 km) of i ...

, a semi-protected land area. Despite the name of the state forest, the waters of the West Branch ultimately flow into

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 ...

Description

The West Branch Manistique River flows through a large field of clay wetlands, known as the ''Great Manistique Swamp'', for almost its entire length. Its source is a network of perched wetlands near Melstrand in eastern Alger County. The river's watershed is little served by paved roads, as the region is of minimal economic value and has almost nobody living in it. After flowing underneath the

Seney Stretch M-28 is an east–west Michigan Highway System, state trunkline highway that traverses nearly all of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, from Wakefield, Michigan, Wakefield to near Sault Ste. Marie, Mi ...

of Michigan highway M-28, the river continues southeast, curling and winding throughout its flow and changing its course constantly with the random deposition and erosion of bands of silt. After passing through and draining the southwest corner of the

Seney National Wildlife Refuge The Seney National Wildlife Refuge is a managed wetland in Schoolcraft County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It has an area of 95,212 acres (385 km2). It is bordered by M-28 and M-77. The nearest town of any size is Seney, Michigan. Th ...

, the boggy river turns south and eventually discharges its flow through Klegstads Slough into the main stem of the Manistique River. The mouth of the swampy river is about northeast of Manistique.

References

{{Authority control Rivers of Michigan Rivers of Alger County, Michigan Rivers of Schoolcraft County, Michigan