The Boardman River (/bɔːrdmən/ BORD-mən), also known as the Ottaway River (/ɒtəweɪ/ AH-tə-way) or the Boardman–Ottaway River,^[1] is a 28.2-mile-long (45.4 km)^[2] river in the northwestern Lower Peninsula of Michigan. It rises in western Kalkaska County, and flows west and north through Grand Traverse County to end in downtown Traverse City at the Grand Traverse Bay, a bay of Lake Michigan. The river's watershed drains an area of 295 square miles (760 km²) through a combined 130 miles (210 km) of river and tributaries. Additionally, the Boardman River is considered one of the top ten trout streams in Michigan.^[3]

Prior to European settlement, the river was known as adaawewiziibi, roughly translating from Ojibwe as "river of trade".

In the year 1847, Captain Horace Boardman of Naperville, Illinois, purchased land at the head of Grand Traverse Bay, at a river then known as the Ottaway River.^[4] With the arrival of Hannah-Lay in the 1850s, the river was colloquially, and later officially, renamed the Boardman River. Recent movements have sought to change the name of the river to its original name, either in full or abbreviated (i.e. Boardman–Ottaway River)^[5][1]

Later in 1800s, as Traverse City was first being settled, the Union Street Dam was being built by the Hannah-Lay Company as a saw mill. Around this time, citizens were dumping sewage into the Boardman, which was causing severe health problems. The lake became very industrialized. The western shore of the lake was used for a log rollaway and rail yard on the Great Lakes Central Railroad, up until the early 2000s.^[6] Additionally, five dams were built along the main course of the river.

The Boardman River has a rather unusually-shaped path. The river rises from streams in western Kalkaska County, east of US 131. The flow is generally west–southwest to west until reaching Blair Township, where the course turns due north. Upon exiting Boardman Lake, water flows west, before turning back due east, forming a U-shape around downtown Traverse City. The river then angles northeast where it enters the west arm of Grand Traverse Bay.

Boardman Lake is a body of water on the mainstream Boardman River, about a mile upstream from Grand Traverse Bay, and adjacent to Traverse City. The lake grew in size, by about 30%, in 1867, with the completion of the Union Street Dam in Traverse City.

This lake is also a popular recreational and fishing lake.^[7] It has an abundance of bluegill, largemouth bass, northern pike, smallmouth bass, sunfish, walleye, and yellow perch.^[8]

Five dams were built along the main course of the Boardman River, in upstream order: the Union Street Dam, Sabin Dam, Boardman Dam, Keystone Dam, and Brown Bridge Dam.^[9] In 1961, the Keystone Dam was washed out after flooding upstream.^[10] On October 6, 2012, while preparing to demolish Brown Bridge Dam, the highest on the river and largest in terms of impoundment, a temporary structure put in place to facilitate drawdown at the dam was breached, flooding the river valley.^[11] In June 2014 the Michigan DEQ issued a report identifying erosion around the temporary drawdown structure as the likely cause of the failure.^[12] Brown Bridge Dam removal was completed in January 2013 and resulted in the reestablishment of 2.5 miles of river channel.^[9]

In 2017, Boardman Dam and its impoundment structure were demolished, along with an adjacent one-lane bridge carrying Cass Road over the river.^[13][14] A new bridge for Cass Road over the new future river channel was completed the previous year. With the removal of this dam, the watercourse was realigned under the new bridge for the first time.^[15]

Sabin Dam was fully removed by the end of 2018.^[16] This leaves Union Street Dam as the only remaining impoundment on the main course of the Boardman River. Recently, proposals to reconstruct the Union Street Dam to allow for a more fish-friendly configuration have been proposed by the city of Traverse City.^[17]

The following road bridges lay on the main course of the river, entirely within Grand Traverse County.

The Boardman River drains the following municipalities (italicized municipalities are those which the river drains but does not flow through):^[29]

• Grand Traverse County
  • Blair Township
  • East Bay Township
  • Fife Lake Township
  • Garfield Township
  • Green Lake Township
  • Long Lake Township
  • Mayfield Township
  • Paradise Township
  • Traverse City
  • Union Township
  • Whitewater Township
• Kalkaska County
  • Boardman Township
  • Coldsprings Township
  • Excelsior Township
  • Garfield Township
  • Kalkaska
  • Kalkaska Township
  • Orange Township
  • Rapid River Township
  • Springfield Township

The Boardman River is also drains the following lakes:

• Arbutus Lake
• Bass Lake
• Rennie Lake
• Silver Lake
• Spider Lake

• Manistee River, whose watershed drains land east and south of Boardman River's watershed.
• List of rivers of Michigan