# Geographic anomaly: Tiny bits of Michigan that drain into the Mississippi. Share your geo-anomalies **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 16, 2020, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033 "2020-02-16T17:56:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [February 16, 2020, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/1 "2020-02-16T17:56:29Z")
Most people believe the entire state of MI is within the Great Lakes Watershed. But this is not true. These coordinates will take one to a small ditch in the lower peninsula which reaches the Mississippi via the Kankakee river. [41°46’17.9"N 86°27’55.3"W](https://www.google.com/maps/place/41%C2%B046'17.9%22N+86%C2%B027'55.3%22W/@41.773981,-86.4632681,14.14z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d41.771628!4d-86.465353) And these coordinates will take one to Misery Creek, which flows into Lac Vieux Desert in MI’s UP, a lake that drains into the Mississippi via the Wisconsin river. [46.162811, -89.111886](https://www.google.com/maps/place/46%C2%B009'46.1%22N+89%C2%B006'42.8%22W/@46.1511592,-89.1227959,14.14z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x0:0x0!7e2!8m2!3d46.1628115!4d-89.1118864) I just HAD to share that. Thanks for indulging me. Please share your geographic facts upon which _you_ dwell incessantly. ---
**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:** [February 16, 2020, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/2 "2020-02-16T17:57:35Z")
ok, that did not go the way it should, and editing doesn’t fix it. it refuses to include the other comment and link I wrote: And these coordinates will take one to Misery Creek, which flows into Lac Vieux Desert in MI’s UP, a lake that drains into the Mississippi via the Wisconsin river. [46.162811, -89.111886](https://www.google.com/maps/place/46%C2%B009'46.1%22N+89%C2%B006'42.8%22W/@46.1511592,-89.1227959,14.14z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x0:0x0!7e2!8m2!3d46.1628115!4d-89.1118864) OK, links are working intermittently, and sometimes only if you click to open them in a new tab. Sorry about that, but I think it’s the board that’s wonky ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/3 "2020-02-16T18:05:55Z")
Now can you reconcile [this GL watershed map](https://www.erbff.org/programs/great-lakes/great-lakes-watersheds-map/) with the state boundaries? “Lac Vieux Desert” in Wisconsin? I gotta see this. Road trip! ---
**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:** [February 16, 2020, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/4 "2020-02-16T18:14:14Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Now can you reconcile [this GL watershed map](https://www.erbff.org/programs/great-lakes/great-lakes-watersheds-map/) with the state boundaries? > > “Lac Vieux Desert” in Wisconsin? I gotta see this. Road trip! Just get a hi res version of that map, and zoom in. You’ll see how those tiny tiny bits of MI are out of the GL watershed. Meet ya at Lac View Desert! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/5 "2020-02-16T18:41:57Z")
Where I live, the sun rises over the Pacific and sets over the Atlantic. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/6 "2020-02-16T18:51:35Z")
How about [this](https://uncoveringpa.com/triple-continental-divide) - a triple continental divide not too far from where I grew up. Allegheny River to Gulf of Mexico Genesee River to the Atlantic via the St Lawrence Susquehanna River to the Atlantic via Chesapeake Bay ---
**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:** [February 16, 2020, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/7 "2020-02-16T19:05:30Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Where I live, the sun rises over the Pacific and sets over the Atlantic. That’s pretty nifty. When we were in Costa Rica recently I tried to figure out if that happened in that country, but I couldn’t see a place there where it would. Thought about heading further south to see you, and that sunrise/sunset combo tho! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/8 "2020-02-16T19:11:38Z")
You’re in Canada. [Now you’re in Vermont.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RWFPOxonaU) Why did you cross the street? To get to Vermont! You’re in Minnesota. [Now you’re in Canada,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RWFPOxonaU) just across the street. You’re in Washington (state). [Now you’re in Canada.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EocJm3Dry4E) ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/9 "2020-02-16T19:24:45Z")
[Kaskaskia](https://americanprofile.com/articles/kaskaskia-the-only-illinois-town-west-of-the-mississippi-river/), IL is the only Illinois town west of the Mississippi. And only because the river decided to follow a new course after a flood and screw everyone up. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/10 "2020-02-16T20:20:01Z")
I live near the headwaters of the [St John’s River](https://www.google.com/maps/@27.9792103,-80.7500526,14z) and it’s been so canalized and dredged and managed that it’s difficult to tell where the north-draining river begins, the east-draining canals begin, and where the swamps in between end. The semi-official source is a little north of my link, called Lake Hell ‘n’ Blazes, sometimes bowdlerized into Lake Helen Blazes. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/11 "2020-02-16T21:29:25Z")
The Eurasian and North American continental tectonic plates are connected by a bridge. I’ve walked over it. > [@](#): > > The Bridge Between Continents spans the Álfagjá rift valley (60 feet wide and 20 feet (6.1 m) deep) near Grindavik, which marks the boundary of the Eurasian and North American continental tectonic plates. It was built in 2002 and previously named Leif the Lucky bridge in honor of Icelandic explorer Leif Eriksson who traveled from Europe to America 500 years before Columbus. [Brief article](https://www.visitreykjanes.is/en/inspiration/towns/town/index/place/bridge-between-continents). [Wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Peninsula_(Iceland)). j ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/12 "2020-02-16T21:37:08Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > When we were in Costa Rica recently I tried to figure out if that happened in that country, but I couldn’t see a place there where it would. No, Costa Rica isn’t as twisted as Panama. In any number of ways.🙂 Another geographic anomaly in Panama: Because of the Panama Canal, the Chagres River discharges its waters into both the Atlantic and the Pacific. > [@](#): > > Thought about heading further south to see you, and that sunrise/sunset combo tho! 🆒 Next time you’re in the neighborhood, drop by. Bring cheese.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/13 "2020-02-16T21:42:57Z")
All the best surf spots in California are East of Reno, NV. ---
**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:** [February 16, 2020, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/14 "2020-02-16T21:43:33Z")
Here’s a list of [Unusual drainage systems](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unusual_drainage_systems), including Isa Lake, WY which drains into **both** the Atlantic and Pacific oceans (how cool is that?), and Tonlé Sap river, which flows north in the wet season and south in the dry season. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/15 "2020-02-16T21:51:43Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > All the best surf spots in California are East of Reno, NV. You beat me to that one, although I was going to express it as all the best ski slopes in Lake Tahoe are west of Los Angeles. ---
**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:** [February 16, 2020, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/16 "2020-02-16T22:28:09Z")
Digging around, I discovered that the waterway that drains MI’s lower peninsula into the Mississippi is called Grapevine Creek. In the 1830’s there were plans to run a canal from Lake Erie at Toledo to Lake Michigan at Michigan City, IN by using various waterways, including Grapevine Creek. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/17 "2020-02-16T22:36:39Z")
Aw, I was going to mention Isa Lake! It’s only a trickle each way, though: You could step over the streams. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/18 "2020-02-16T23:01:23Z")
I thought it was cool to drive from Istanbul (on the Eurasian Tectonic Plate) to the rest of Turkey (on the Anatolian Tectonic Plate) via the Bosphorus Strait Bridge. I’m not positive, but I think it’s the only city in the world that straddles two plates. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/19 "2020-02-16T23:59:02Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Aw, I was going to mention Isa Lake! It’s only a trickle each way, though: You could step over the streams. No, no, [don’t cross the streams](https://youtu.be/wyKQe_i9yyo?t=47)! ETA: Thanks for these, everyone! I’m making a poster along with the usual suspects like Port Roberts, WA and Lake of the Woods, MN for my niece and her kids. ---
**Author:** ![bizerta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@bizerta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizerta)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2020, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/20 "2020-02-17T00:17:14Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > … Another geographic anomaly in Panama: Because of the Panama Canal, the Chagres River discharges its waters into both the Atlantic and the Pacific. … The Illinois & Michigan Canal allows Lake Michigan to also flow to the Mississippi River. Two Ocean Pass in Wyoming is a natural place along the Continental Divide where water can flow to either the Atlantic or Pacific. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033.md?page=2)