Leland River - Definition and Overview

Leland River is a river in the Leelanau Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The entire river lies within Leelanau County. It was formerly named the Carp River and is still often referred to as such.

The mouth of the river is on Lake Michigan at Leland, where there is a dam less than a half mile from its mouth. The dam, built in 1854, creates a large lake known as Lake Leelanau. Before the dam was built, there were three natural lakes. The dam raised the water level 12 feet, causing the lakes to merge into a single lake, although the lake narrows considerably for about 0.4 mile near the community of Lake Leelanau. The only bridge over the river is on Michigan State Highway 204 at Lake Leelanau. The lake is about 1.5 miles at its widest.

The river and lake are navigable to the community of Cedar in Solon Township, approximately 15 miles from the dam, where the lake ends in a marshy area fed by several small creeks.