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Belle River (Michigan)

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Coordinates: 42°42′25″N 82°29′50″W / 42.70694°N 82.49722°W / 42.70694; -82.49722 (Belle River (mouth))
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This article is about the river in southeast Michigan. For the river in Presque Isle County, see Bell River (Michigan).
Belle
Location
CountryUnited States
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationDryden Township, Lapeer County, Michigan
Mouth 
 • location
St. Clair River at Marine City, Michigan
 • coordinates
42°42′25″N 82°29′50″W / 42.70694°N 82.49722°W / 42.70694; -82.49722 (Belle River (mouth))
 • elevation
574 ft (175 m)[1]
Length73.5 mi (118.3 km)
Discharge 
 • locationmouth
 • average155.21 cu ft/s (4.395 m3/s) (estimate)[2]

The Belle River is a 73.5-mile-long (118.3 km)[3] river in the U.S. state of Michigan, flowing into the St. Clair River in Marine City at 42°42′25″N 82°29′50″W / 42.70694°N 82.49722°W / 42.70694; -82.49722 (Belle River (mouth)).[1]

The North Branch Belle River rises out of Long Lake at 43°00′50″N 83°08′41″W / 43.01389°N 83.14472°W / 43.01389; -83.14472 (North Branch Belle River (source))[4] in section 22 of Attica Township in southeast Lapeer County. Long Lake[5] is fed by the Long Lake Drain, which drains marshy areas to the south of the lake. From Long Lake, the river flows eastward around the north side of Imlay City. It is fed by the Hunt, Pennell, and Clark Corner drains on the northeast of Imlay City and turns southward, where it joins the main branch of the river at 42°59′31″N 83°03′57″W / 42.99194°N 83.06583°W / 42.99194; -83.06583 (North Branch Belle River (mouth)), now near the intersection of Interstate 69 and M-53.[4]

The main branch of the Belle River rises in the south of Dryden Township at 42°53′54″N 83°07′50″W / 42.89833°N 83.13056°W / 42.89833; -83.13056 (Belle River (source)),[1] in a marshy area near the boundary between Lapeer and Oakland counties. It flows mostly north and east until joined by the north branch, after which it flows mostly south and east into St. Clair County. It passes the north side of Memphis, then turns southeast and passes through the northeast corner of Macomb County. Interstate 94 crosses the river in the northeast corner of Casco Township.

The river continues east by southeast through China Township and into East China Township, where it turns south less than a half mile from the St. Clair River and parallels the St. Clair for a few miles before its mouth in downtown Marine City.

The river's watershed drains portions of Lapeer, Macomb, Oakland, and St. Clair counties.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c "Belle River". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. ^ United States Environmental Protection Agency. "Watershed Report: Belle River". WATERS GeoViewer. Archived from the original on 2021-07-06. Retrieved 2021-07-06.
  3. ^ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map Archived 2012-03-29 at the Wayback Machine, accessed November 7, 2011
  4. ^ a b "North Branch Belle River". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  5. ^ "Long Lake". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
[edit]
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