BirdTrout
Grand River, Michigan
157 mapped river miles, draining 5,451 square miles across Clinton, Eaton, Ingham, Ionia, Jackson, Kent counties, in the Grand River basin watershed. A USGS gauge stands in it, but its record is too short for a measured July mean, so what this page knows about its temperature is today's reading and MDNR's classification of the water itself.
50°F and colder is cold, through cold-transitional and cool, to warm above 70°F — the same four bands, breaking at 58, 64 and 70°F, that the app paints. Grey is water nobody has measured.
The nearest gauge, and why there is no reading from it
The nearest gauge, 0.0 miles away at Grand River Near Eastmanville, is not reporting water temperature: it has sent no water temperature for 727 days, since 1 October 2024. A stopped gauge repeats its last value in silence, so there is no live temperature here. What is below is modelled from the years that gauge did report: this gauge's own fitted line, its intercept plus its slope against the 4-day mean air temperature over it, fitted on its own daily record, ±2.4 °F. The shape of the week at that gauge, not a thermometer in this stream.
The character of the water
This is the largest water in the basin that carries its name: 157.3 mapped miles of seventh-order river across Clinton, Eaton, Ingham, Ionia, Jackson and Kent counties, draining 5,451.47 square miles at a median width of 80.4 feet, with the NHD line running 189.76 miles. MDNR types 79.9 miles, 42 percent coverage, and the classification is overwhelmingly Warm — a single 63.2-mile warm small river reach from river mile 150.3 to 0.0, with warm large river segments of 7.2, 1.4, 1.3 and 1.2 miles below it. A 3.8-mile Cool reach sits at the head, and four short Cold-transitional slivers of 0.8, 0.5, 0.4 and 0.1 miles interrupt the lower river. Gradient is very low or low throughout. The class describes the valley segment, not the water, so no measured temperature applies; the gauge near Eastmanville sits on the river itself. Walleye stocking continues at five sites through 2026, the heaviest at Portland-Charlotte Highway. Eighteen access sites are all launches.
Thermal classification
MDNR types this water from its valley, not from a thermometer in it. A class, not a temperature — no July mean, because none was measured here.
| Reach | Typed miles | Band | MDNR type |
|---|---|---|---|
| RM 157.3–152.1 | 3.8 | cool | Warm transitional stream · low gradient |
| RM 150.3–0.0 | 63.2 | warm | Warm small river · very low gradient |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 0.1 | cold-transitional | Cold transitional stream · very low gradient |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 1.4 | warm | Warm large river · very low gradient |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 0.4 | cold-transitional | Cold transitional stream · very low gradient |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 7.2 | warm | Warm large river · very low gradient |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 0.5 | cold-transitional | Cold transitional stream · very low gradient |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 1.2 | warm | Warm large river · very low gradient |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 0.8 | cold-transitional | Cold transitional stream · very low gradient |
| RM 0.0–0.0 | 1.3 | warm | Warm large river · very low gradient |
MDNR has classified 79.9 of the 190 miles NHD carries for this stream — 42% of it. The typed water splits 74.3 mi warm, 3.8 mi cool, 1.8 mi cold-transitional. The untyped reaches are not warm water — they are water MDNR's inventory does not reach, and the mile ranges above span only the reaches it does.
The lake run
The Grand River is a Lake Michigan tributary with 42.2 miles of run corridor on it — salmon, steelhead and lake-run brown trout, on their own calendar and under their own rules. Run timing, species and access on the Grand River →
Questions about this river
- Grand River fishing report — what it reads right now
- When to fish the Grand River — hatches, seasons and temperature
- How to get to the Grand River — access, parking and public land
- Grand River fishing regulations — season, size and gear by reach
- Is the Grand River good for rainbow trout?
Access
18 mapped MDNR access sites within a quarter mile of the water, upstream first: Maple Grove Bridge (RM 138.2), Trestle Bridge (RM 126.9), Tompkins Bridge (RM 122.6), Gale Road (RM 112.2), Mcarthur Park (RM 107.8), Bunker Road (RM 102.7), Mcnamara Landing (RM 98.8), Burchfield Park (RM 95.8), and 10 more. 0 walk-in, 18 boat or canoe launches.
Public land on the river
110 units of public or open-access land touch this river, 18,135 acres in total. Acreage is the whole unit, not the part beside the water.
| Unit | Owner | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| Ionia State Recreation Area | — | 3,867 |
| Portland State Game Area | — | 2,596 |
| Bass River Recreation Area | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | 1,746 |
| Ionia | Michigan DNR | 1,098 |
| Grand River State Game Area | Michigan DNR - Wildlife Division | 1,027 |
| Grand Haven State Game Area | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | 1,003 |
| Burchfield Park | Ingham County Parks, Michigan | 570 |
| Bass River | Michigan DNR | 558 |
| Sharp Park | City | 411 |
| Grand River County Open Space | Ottawa County | 285 |
Species
- Channel catfish stocked only
- Chinook salmon stocked only
- Coho salmon stocked only
- Largemouth bass stocked only
- Northern pike stocked only
- Rainbow trout stocked only
- Smallmouth bass stocked only
- Tiger muskellunge stocked only
- Walleye stocked only
Stocked, per the MDNR record: Channel catfish, Chinook salmon, Coho salmon, Largemouth bass, Northern pike, Rainbow trout, Smallmouth bass, Tiger muskellunge, Walleye. The most recent plants are Walleye at Grand River (Jackson Co., through 2026); Walleye at Tompkins Rd. (Jackson Co., through 2026); Walleye at Bunker Highway (Eaton Co., through 2026).
Hatches on this water
47 insects are recorded from southern lower Michigan, which is the region this river sits in. That is a claim about the region and not a survey of this stream: nobody has recorded which of them has been caught here. Open the river in the app and the hatch panel will narrow it to the ones whose temperature window today's reading is inside.
| Insect | Peak | Water | Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fish Eggs Other |
October–January and April | 33–60°F | #10–16 |
| Little Black Stonefly Allocapnia / Capnia spp. |
January–April | 34–46°F | #16–18 |
| Little Brown Stonefly Taeniopteryx / Strophopteryx spp. |
February–April | 38–50°F | #12–16 |
| Blue-Winged Olive Baetis spp. |
March–May and September–November | 38–58°F | #16–22 |
| Blackfly Simulium spp. |
April–June | 40–65°F | #18–22 |
| Blue Quill Paraleptophlebia adoptiva |
April–May | 44–56°F | #16–18 |
| Cranefly Tipula spp. |
April–June and September–October | 40–65°F | #6–10 |
| Grannom Brachycentrus spp. |
April–May | 48–58°F | #14–16 |
| Hendrickson Ephemerella subvaria |
April–May | 45–58°F | #12–14 |
| Little Black Caddis Chimarra atterima |
April–May | 46–58°F | #16–20 |
| Caterpillar Lepidoptera larvae |
May–September | 55–75°F | #8–14 |
| Crayfish Orconectes spp. |
May–October | 55–78°F | #4–8 |
| Light Cahill Maccaffertium ithaca |
May–July | 55–68°F | #12–16 |
| Little Sulphur Ephemerella dorothea |
May–July | 50–62°F | #16–20 |
And 33 more — the year-round records, mostly: midges, scuds and sculpins, which are in the water every day and are therefore never the news.
Tributaries and watershed
44 named streams meet this one. Confluence miles are above the mouth; the longest twelve are listed.
- Maple River 74.2 mi · RM 21.0
- Looking Glass River 71.1 mi · RM 39.3
- Red Cedar River 51.1 mi · RM 80.9
- Sandstone Creek 33.5 mi · RM 123.1
- Spring Brook 30.6 mi · RM 107.3
- Prairie Creek 25.1 mi · RM 16.8
- Portage River 15.6 mi · RM 140.3
- Bellamy Creek 14.6 mi · RM 10.4
- Sebewa Creek 13.5 mi · RM 47.6
- Sessions Creek 8.8 mi · RM 10.4
- North Onondaga Drain 8.5 mi · RM 110.5
- Frayer Creek 7.9 mi · RM 56.9
Grand River sits in HUC 8 04050004, 04050005, 04050006 and 04050007, the Grand River basin, and drains 5,451 square miles, Strahler order 7 at the mouth. 215 NHD reaches carry the name for 189.8 miles in total — more than the 157.3 miles of drawn mainstem, because NHD counts side channels and braids as their own reaches.
Other water nearby
The closest 6 rivers on this site, straight-line from the middle of this one — not drive time.