# River near my apartment flows in both directions? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 24, 2014, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/river-near-my-apartment-flows-in-both-directions/699437 "2014-09-24T15:06:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/river-near-my-apartment-flows-in-both-directions/699437/21 "2014-09-25T09:46:41Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > In which case you don’t have a river, you have an estuary. Beat me to it! I grew up 150 feet away from the Hudson River, and I remember learning when I was about seven that calling it a “river” is technically a misnomer. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/river-near-my-apartment-flows-in-both-directions/699437/22 "2014-09-25T19:40:14Z")
I’d heard that the Chicago River flows both into Lake Michigan and into some tributary of the Mississippi (I can’t find an online map that accurately labels rivers), but it’s the result of engineering and not a natural phenomenon. How does this work? Does a second river flow right into where they divide the Chicago or something? ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/river-near-my-apartment-flows-in-both-directions/699437/23 "2014-09-25T20:37:40Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > I’d heard that the Chicago River flows both into Lake Michigan and into some tributary of the Mississippi (I can’t find an online map that accurately labels rivers), but it’s the result of engineering and not a natural phenomenon. How does this work? Does a second river flow right into where they divide the Chicago or something? The Chicago River wasn’t split; it was fully reversed. Originally it and the nearby Calumet River drained into Lake Michigan, but now they flow _out_ of Lake Michigan. They would eventually drain Lake Michigan via the Mississippi, if there weren’t locks in place (and if they didn’t silt up first.) See the [Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Sanitary_and_Ship_Canal) for a couple of maps illustrating what was done. ---
**Author:** ![Curious\_Mike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f04885/32.png) [@Curious\_Mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Curious_Mike)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/river-near-my-apartment-flows-in-both-directions/699437/24 "2014-09-25T21:57:55Z")
> [@RadicalPi](#): > > For what it’s worth, there’s another type of river that flows in two directions. The Parting of the Waters in Wyoming is a creek that divides in two with one part draining to the Atlantic and the other to the Pacific. > > [Parting of the Waters - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parting_of_the_Waters) Maybe you should check that again. We have two continental divides in the US, eastern and western. At Parting of the Waters in Wyoming one part flows to the Pacific, the other flows to the Gulf of Mexico. Edit to add: The Wikipedia says that it flows to the Atlantic and the creek is called Atlantic Creek, but it seems lazy to say that the Mississippi flows into the Atlantic instead of the Gulf of Mexico. Also wanted to point out that Wiki says that Rahway is at 23 ft elevation. Presumably the Rahway River is somewhat below this median elevation so it is not too hard to imagine that the rising tides could affect the river as far inland as Rahway. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/river-near-my-apartment-flows-in-both-directions/699437/25 "2014-09-25T22:31:46Z")
> [@MikeS](#): > > The Chicago River wasn’t split; it was fully reversed. Originally it and the nearby Calumet River drained into Lake Michigan, but now they flow _out_ of Lake Michigan. They would eventually drain Lake Michigan via the Mississippi, if there weren’t locks in place (and if they didn’t silt up first.) See the [Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Sanitary_and_Ship_Canal) for a couple of maps illustrating what was done. Well, _ **drain** _ is a bit strong. The canal would have to be a _lot_ deeper to completely drain Lake Michigan (920+ feet deep at its deepest point). ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/river-near-my-apartment-flows-in-both-directions/699437/26 "2014-09-26T01:11:05Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > I’m pretty far from the ocean, so I don’t think that high tide would affect flow that far, would it? The Arthur Kill is a tidal strait separating Staten Island, New York City from mainland New Jersey, USA, and a major navigational channel of the Port of New York and New Jersey. Arthur Kill has also been known as Staten Island Sound. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2014, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/river-near-my-apartment-flows-in-both-directions/699437/27 "2014-09-26T05:25:07Z")
Not that it is relevant to that particular river, but the Detroit River in Detroit can flow either way, sort of. The river has such a slow flow because the elevation change is so gradual, that the name (in French) means that they weren’t quite sure if it was a river or a strait. On a day with a decent northeast blowing wind the surface flow appears to be upstream. The balance of the flow underneath is still into Erie, but a leaf, or foam, or shallow draft boat will go the other way on those days. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/river-near-my-apartment-flows-in-both-directions/699437.md?page=1)