Cut River (Mackinac County, Michigan)
river in Michigan, United States of America
Cut River is a small, short river in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The four-mile (6.4 km) river runs along the boundary between Hendricks Township and Moran Township, with the mouth on Lake Michigan about two miles (3.2 km) east of Epoufette and about four miles (6.4 km) west of Brevort.
It drains part of the Little Brevoort wetland through a steep-sided limestone gorge into northern Lake Michigan. The river's drainage is largely located within the Lake Superior State Forest and is administered by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
Cut River is notable for two features:
The Cut River Bridge, carrying U.S. Highway 2 over the Cut River close to its mouth, is one of the longest truss arch bridges in the United States, and it is the eighth longest bridge in Michigan. Completed in 1947, the bridge is 641 feet (195 m) long, and rises 140 feet (43 m) above the base of the gorge. Parking is available at both ends of the bridge, and there is a pedestrian footpath on the north side of the bridge, offering a good view of the gorge. Locals call the bridge "the million dollar bridge over a two-bit creek".
The Cut River gorge is well adapted to growth of mature sugar maple specimens. The bridge and footpath, which rise just above treetop level, offer good views of the gorge during the autumn color season.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Cut River (Mackinac County, Michigan)” is river in Michigan, United States of America. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through River, Mackinac and County, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “river in Michigan, United States of America” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5196643. Authority coordinates are 46.044, -85.127. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1947.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Cut River (Mackinac County, Michigan)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.