This interactive map of Michigan shows every major river, stream, lake, and reservoir in the state. Michigan has 2,282 mapped rivers and streams (totalling 14,667 miles) and 17,410 water bodies, of which 6,088 are named features at least a tenth of a square mile in area. The state ranks #23 of 51 by total mapped river miles and #1 by lake and reservoir area.
The longest mapped river in Michigan is the Manistee River (100.7 mi mapped). The largest mapped water body is Lake Michigan (21889.4 sq mi). Click any feature on the map for name, type, and size; use the layer toggles, basemap switcher, and name search above the map to explore.
About this map
Rivers come from the USGS National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) via ESRI Living Atlas, filtered by Michigan’s State attribute. Lakes, reservoirs, and other water bodies come from the NHD Detailed Water Bodies layer and are filtered to features intersecting the Michigan boundary. Lengths shown are per-feature segment lengths (not full course length), and the blue river lines are a generalized hydrography layer — switch the basemap to Satellite or Terrain at high zoom if you need to see exactly where each channel sits on the ground.
Longest mapped rivers in Michigan
The top mapped river segments in Michigan, ranked by the length of each named segment in the NHD.
| # | River | Type | Longest segment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manistee River | Stream | 100.7 mi |
| 2 | Grand River | Stream | 98.3 mi |
| 3 | Muskegon River | Stream | 97.7 mi |
| 4 | Ford River | Stream | 86.2 mi |
| 5 | Tahquamenon River | Stream | 76.1 mi |
| 6 | Shiawassee River | Stream | 72.1 mi |
| 7 | Flat River | Stream | 57.8 mi |
| 8 | Chippewa River | Stream | 55.3 mi |
| 9 | Thunder Bay River | Stream | 54.7 mi |
| 10 | Saint Joseph River | Stream | 53.6 mi |
Largest mapped lakes and reservoirs in Michigan
The top mapped water bodies in Michigan, ranked by surface area. Reservoirs are typically dam-impounded; Lake/Pond covers natural lakes plus large estuaries and bayous; Swamp/Marsh covers wetlands; Stream/River covers wide river reaches stored as polygons. Boundary water bodies (Great Lakes, Lake Pontchartrain, etc.) are credited to every state they touch.
| # | Water body | Type | Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lake Michigan | Lake/Pond | 21889.4 sq mi |
| 2 | Lake Superior | Lake/Pond | 14283.65 sq mi |
| 3 | Lake Huron | Lake/Pond | 7764.72 sq mi |
| 4 | Lake Erie | Lake/Pond | 4642.81 sq mi |
| 5 | Cyr Swamp | Swamp/Marsh | 84.64 sq mi |
| 6 | Creighton Marsh | Swamp/Marsh | 65.43 sq mi |
| 7 | Munuscong Lake | Lake/Pond | 60.92 sq mi |
| 8 | Spreads, The | Swamp/Marsh | 49.91 sq mi |
| 9 | Long Swamp | Swamp/Marsh | 44.12 sq mi |
| 10 | Dead Stream Swamp | Swamp/Marsh | 30.79 sq mi |
Michigan water by the numbers
- Mapped rivers and streams: 2,282 features, 14,667 total mapped miles (national rank #23 of 51)
- Water bodies (any size): 17,410 features
- Named water bodies (≥ 0.1 sq mi): 6,088 features
- Total mapped water surface: 55,320 sq mi (national rank #1 of 51)
Neighboring state maps
Return to the US Lakes and Rivers Interactive Map for national rankings and the all-states view.
