The Inland Waterway - Main Branch

 The Alverno Dam doesn't appear on the road map view, you have to switch to the satellite view and zoom in.  It is approached from Black River Road to the east via Kensington Road.

There is some high ground around the Gaylord - Grayling area, but Michigan doesn't just slope one way.  The Inland Waterway drains a substantial portion of the Northern Lower Peninsula, but not all of it.  For example, when we reach the upper end of the waterway, there is a narrow strip of land between Round Lake and Little Traverse Bay, which is the divide between two watersheds.  The rain that falls on the west side of Highway 119 flows down to Lake Michigan, while the rain that falls on the east side of 119 ends up in Lake Huron via our Inland Waterway.

Now we resume our journey.  At the south end of Mullet Lake is the mouth of the Indian River, not to be confused with the mouth of the Pigeon River to the east.  First, we traverse a large marsh known as The Spreads, through which the narrow navigable channel threads.  Above the I-75 bridge the channel narrows even more and the speed of the current increases.  We leave the marsh behind and travel through the town of Indian River, which changes to "Tuscarora" when you zoom in.  This duality may be explained by the fact that Indian River is not incorporated as a village or city and is governed by Tuscarora Township, although everybody calls it Indian River.  

Be that as it may, the Indian River flows out of Burt Lake, which is shaped kind of like the State or Michigan except that the thumb is on the other side.  At the end of this thumb, we come to the mouth of the Crooked River, not to be confused with the mouth of the Maple River to its north.  The Crooked River leads us through some marshes and the town of Alanson to the east end of Crooked Lake.  The west end of Crooked Lake brings us to the end of our journey.  There is a marshy creek that connects Crooked Lake to Round Lake.  This creek is not considered navigable, but it looks like you could slip a canoe through there, which is what the Indians must have done back in the day.  From Round Lake it's only a short portage to Little Traverse Bay.

The Indians used the Inland Waterway as an alternate route to Mackinac Island when the weather was rough on Lake Michigan.  Mackinac Island had religious significance for the Indians, who gathered there once a year to discuss tribal business and conduct ceremonies.  It also became a big trading post during our fur trapping era.  Cheboygan developed as a lesser trading post during the 19th Century and is a poplar shopping destination even unto this day.