Longest rivers that outlet into the Great Lakes

Grand River emptying into Lake Michigan at Grand Haven, Michigan

The following list identifies the 43 (two ties) longest rivers that outlet into the Great Lakes in the United States and Canada. The longest river for each of the Great Lakes and for Lake St. Clair is identified in bold. A minimum length of 50 miles was required for inclusion on the list.

1. Grand River (Michigan) – Lake Michigan = 252 miles
2. Muskegon River – Lake Michigan = 216 miles
3. Spanish River – Lake Huron = 210 miles
4. St. Joseph River – Lake Michigan = 206 miles
5. Fox River (Wisconsin) – Lake Michigan = 200 miles
6. Saint Louis River – Lake Superior = 192 miles
7. Manistee River – Lake Michigan = 190 miles
8. Grand River (Ontario) – Lake Erie = 174 miles
9. Thames River – Lake St. Clair = 170 miles
10. Genesee River – Lake Ontario = 157 miles
11. River Raisin – Lake Erie = 139 miles
12. Au Sable River – Lake Huron = 138 miles
13. Maumee River – Lake Erie = 137 miles
14. Peshtigo River – Lake Michigan = 136 miles
15. Sandusky River – Lake Erie = 133 miles
16. – tie Huron River (Michigan) – Lake Erie & Kalamazoo River – Lake Michigan = 130 miles
17. Rouge River – Lake Erie = 127 miles
18. Black River (New York) – Lake Ontario = 125 miles
19. Menominee River – Lake Michigan = 116 miles
20. Magnetawan River – Lake Huron = 109 miles
21. Milwaukee River – Lake Michigan = 104 miles
22. Grand River (Ohio) – Lake Erie = 103 miles
23. Saugeen River – Lake Huron = 99 miles
24. Pic River – Lake Superior = 93 miles
25. Tahquamenon River – Lake Superior = 89 miles
26. Cuyahoga River – Lake Erie = 85 miles
27. Clinton River – Lake St. Clair = 83 miles
28. Sheybogan River – Lake Michigan = 81 miles
29. Thunder Bay River – Lake Huron = 75 miles (75.3)
30. St. Mary’s River – Lake Huron = 75 miles (74.5)
31. Manistique River – Lake Michigan = 71 miles
32. Michipicoten River – Lake Superior = 70 miles
33. French River – Lake Huron = 68 miles
34. Vermillion River – Lake Erie = 67 miles
35. Pere Marquette River – Lake Michigan = 64 miles
36. Humber River – Lake Ontario & Portage River – Lake Erie = 62 miles
37. Rifle River – Lake Huron = 60 miles
38. Kaministiquia River – Lake Superior = 59 miles
39. Credit River – Lake Ontario = 56 miles
40. Betsie River – Lake Michigan = 54 miles
41. Escanaba River – Lake Michigan = 52 miles

Manistee River outlet into Lake Michigan at Manistee, Michigan

The next list shows how many rivers are represented for each of the lakes.

1. Lake Michigan = 14 rivers
2. Lake Erie = 10 rivers
3. Lake Huron = 8 rivers
4. Lake Superior = 5 rivers
5. Lake Ontario = 4 rivers
6. Lake St. Clair = 2 rivers

It is interesting to note how few longer rivers outlet into Lake Superior even though it is the largest of the Great Lakes. It is also interesting that the longest river flowing into Lake St. Clair exceeds the length of the longest river flowing into Lake Ontario by 13 miles.

French River outlets into Lake Huron in Ontario

SOURCES:

• en.wikipedia.org for each river, each state, and province
• https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-are-the-primary-inflows-and-outflows-of-lake-superior.html
• maps.google.com

___________

If the topics of rivers or the Great Lakes are of interest to you, here are two book options that are available via Amazon.com* on those subjects.

https://amzn.to/3fjIZNR

https://amzn.to/3orw9S4

*A small commission is earned from purchases that are made using these links to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.