# Does the Ohio River drain Michigan? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 23, 2011, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-ohio-river-drain-michigan/607221 "2011-12-23T22:38:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![thelabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@thelabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelabdude)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2011, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-ohio-river-drain-michigan/607221/1 "2011-12-23T22:38:19Z")
This link in the Mississippi thread [http://steamboattimes.com/images/maps/map\_mississippi\_watershed1160x971.jpg](http://steamboattimes.com/images/maps/map_mississippi_watershed1160x971.jpg) leaves me wondering if a tiny bit of Michigan drains into the Ohio. Nearly all the states south of New York between the divide between the Atlantic and the Mississippi do. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2011, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-ohio-river-drain-michigan/607221/2 "2011-12-23T23:42:36Z")
Nope. That little sliver is part of the [Kankakee River watershed](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kankakee_River_watershed.PNG), and the Kankakee drains to the Mississippi by way of the Illinois River. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2011, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-ohio-river-drain-michigan/607221/3 "2011-12-24T00:27:03Z")
Great question, though. When I’m into my map geek mode, I love to figure out where the watersheds are. I loved discovering years ago that part of Michigan’s UP drains into the Mississippi. ---
**Author:** ![thelabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@thelabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelabdude)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2011, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-ohio-river-drain-michigan/607221/4 "2011-12-24T04:16:13Z")
Ok, check out the Tennessee river. I am most familiar with where I 65 crosses it in Alabama. There it is a decent river flowing towards the nearby Mississippi. I can only surmise the revenooers have dumped too much golden nectar into its head waters and it got disoriented. I tend to blame the government for everything. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2011, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-ohio-river-drain-michigan/607221/5 "2011-12-24T04:49:26Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > Nope. That little sliver is part of the [Kankakee River watershed](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kankakee_River_watershed.PNG), and the Kankakee drains to the Mississippi by way of the Illinois River. Actually, according to the soil survey map, with hydro reference layer, found on the ARCGIS site, there are a handful of acres in Michigan at the southern boundary of Berrien County, that do drain into the Mississippi: [http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=085648dddb0e41baa898b5e0b3afc902](http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=085648dddb0e41baa898b5e0b3afc902) If one drives down far enough, one finds an irregular patch, roughly triangular, with a base of about 2 miles at the Michigan border, extending about .97 mile into Michigan. It is located East Southeast of Three Oaks, MI and Southwest by West of Buchanan, MI. The coordinates are Southeast corner: -86.432501 Lon 41.759598 Lat Southwest corner: -86.470781 Lon 41.759598 Lat Northern point: -86.451212 Lon 41.773554 Lat (Actual Longitude/Latitude are off to the extent that the map has coarse granularity and my cursor may not hit the exact point another might choose.) ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2011, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-ohio-river-drain-michigan/607221/6 "2011-12-24T04:52:52Z")
Of course, while that shows the Lower Peninsula with a few acres draining into the Mississisppi, they do not drain into the Ohio, but the Kankakee/Illinois, as noted by Freddy the Pig.