| Bear River | |
|---|---|
The Bear River flowing through downtown Petoskey | |
| Country | Michigan, United States |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Main source | Walloon Lake |
| River mouth | Little Traverse Bay |
| Length | 14.7 miles (23.7 km) [1] |
| Basin features | |
| Tributaries |
|
Bear River is a small clear slow-moving river in the U.S. state of Michigan. 14.7 miles (23.7 km) long, [1] it is the largest tributary of Little Traverse Bay in the northwest of the lower peninsula. Traverse Bay is on Lake Michigan. The river is formed as the outflow of Walloon Lake on the boundary between Charlevoix County and Emmet County, draining from the southeast end of the lake at 45°15′40″N84°56′01″W / 45.26111°N 84.93361°W [2] near the community of Walloon Lake in Melrose Township. M-75 has its northern terminus in a junction with US 131 nearby.
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are currently 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory and shares its sovereignty with the federal government. Due to this shared sovereignty, Americans are citizens both of the federal republic and of the state in which they reside. State citizenship and residency are flexible, and no government approval is required to move between states, except for persons restricted by certain types of court orders. Four states use the term commonwealth rather than state in their full official names.
Michigan is a state in the Great Lakes and Midwestern regions of the United States. The state's name, Michigan, originates from the Ojibwe word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake". With a population of about 10 million, Michigan is the tenth most populous of the 50 United States, with the 11th most extensive total area, and is the largest state by total area east of the Mississippi River. Its capital is Lansing, and its largest city is Detroit. Metro Detroit is among the nation's most populous and largest metropolitan economies.
Little Traverse Bay is a small bay, 170 feet deep, off Lake Michigan in the northern area of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. The cities of Harbor Springs and Petoskey are located on this bay.
Contents
The river flows east for about 2 miles (3 km) before turning north through Bear Creek Township, angling northwest to empty into Little Traverse Bay in Petoskey at 45°22′38″N84°57′39″W / 45.37722°N 84.96083°W . [2] Petoskey was at first known as "Bear River" until being renamed in 1873. The Bear River itself has also been known as "Bear Creek" and "Ellis Creek". [2]
Bear Creek Township is a civil township of Emmet County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the township population was 5,269.
Petoskey is a city and coastal resort community in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was estimated at approximately close to 5,670 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Emmet County.
The river has excellent fishing and provides opportunities for peaceful canoeing or kayaking. The river is great for smelt fishing. For most of its path in Emmet County, River Road and the Tuscola and Saginaw Bay Railway parallel the river on its west banks.
Smelts are a family of small fish, the Osmeridae, found in the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans, as well as rivers, streams and lakes in Europe, North America and Northeast Asia. They are also known as freshwater smelts or typical smelts to distinguish them from the related Argentinidae, Bathylagidae, and Retropinnidae.
