Brule River

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title: "Brule River" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["rivers-of-michigan", "rivers-of-wisconsin", "rivers-of-iron-county,-michigan", "rivers-of-forest-county,-wisconsin", "bodies-of-water-of-florence-county,-wisconsin", "tributaries-of-lake-michigan", "borders-of-michigan", "borders-of-wisconsin"] description: "Boundary river of Michigan and Wisconsin, tributary of the Menominee" topic_path: "technology/web" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brule_River" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Boundary river of Michigan and Wisconsin, tributary of the Menominee ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox river"]

Field	Value
name	Brule River
subdivision_type1	Country
subdivision_name1	United States
subdivision_type2	States
subdivision_name2	Michigan; Wisconsin
source1	Brule Lake
source1_location	Michigan–Wisconsin border, U.S.
mouth	Confluence with the Michigamme River to form the Menominee River
mouth_location	Near Florence, Wisconsin / Iron County, Michigan, U.S.
length	52.3 mi (84.2 km)
mapframe	yes
::

| name = Brule River | subdivision_type1 = Country | subdivision_name1 = United States | subdivision_type2 = States | subdivision_name2 = Michigan; Wisconsin | source1 = Brule Lake | source1_location = Michigan–Wisconsin border, U.S. | mouth = Confluence with the Michigamme River to form the Menominee River | mouth_location = Near Florence, Wisconsin / Iron County, Michigan, U.S. | length = 52.3 mi (84.2 km) | mapframe = yes

The Brule River is a 52.3-mile (84.2 km) river in the U.S. states of Michigan and Wisconsin. For most of its length it forms the state boundary. The Brule begins at Brule Lake on the state line, winds east and southeast, and joins the Michigamme River to form the Menominee River, which flows to Lake Michigan.

Course

From its headwaters at Brule Lake on the state line, the river flows generally east and southeast along the boundary of Iron County, Michigan and Forest County, Wisconsin, then along Iron County (MI) and Florence County (WI), before meeting the Michigamme River near U.S. Highway 2 to form the Menominee River.

Watershed and management

The Brule drains forest and wetland landscapes typical of the western Upper Peninsula and northern Wisconsin. Portions of the corridor are publicly owned, providing access for angling and paddling. A small impoundment, the Brule River Flowage, occurs on the Wisconsin side near Florence.

Recreation

The river is popular for canoeing and fishing. Public lands along the corridor provide multiple informal launch and take-out points. Trout, smallmouth bass, and northern pike occur by reach.

Name

Brule is the anglicized form of the French brûlé (“burned”). The name appears across the upper Great Lakes where early French usage referenced burned woods or burnovers along waterways.

References

References

1. "National Hydrography Dataset (high-resolution flowlines)". U.S. Geological Survey.
2. "Brule River at US Highway 2 near Florence, WI (USGS 04060993)". U.S. Geological Survey.
3. "USGS 04061000 — Brule River near Florence, WI (site details)". USGS Water Quality Data Portal.
4. "Brule River Flowage (704400) — lake facts". Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
5. "USDA Forest Service – Eastern Region (local recreation pages)". U.S. Forest Service.
6. "Wisconsin fishing regulations". Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
7. "brûlé — definition and etymology". Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::