The Macatawa River, also known as the Black River, is located in the lower part of Ottawa County, Michigan

Ottawa County, Michigan

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 238,314 people, 81,662 households, and 61,328 families residing in the county. The population density was 421 people per square mile . There were 86,856 housing units at an average density of 154 per square mile...

, which drains into Lake Macatawa

Lake Macatawa

Lake Macatawa is a lake in Ottawa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The lake is about long with a maximum width of and a surface area of 1,700 acres The average depth of the lake is variable but generally less than , excluding a navigation channel of fixed depth that crosses the lake to...

 and eventually into Lake Michigan

Lake Michigan

Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...

. The main stream is 16.8 miles (27 km) long.

The name Macatawa is a mis-phoneticization of the Native American "Muck-i-ta-wog-go-me", which means "black water". The region was inhabited by Ottawas, Chippewas and Potawatomie tribes.

This small river is the site of the annual tug-of-war by Hope College

Hope College

Hope College is a medium-sized , private, residential liberal arts college located in downtown Holland, Michigan, a few miles from Lake Michigan. It was opened in 1851 as the Pioneer School by Dutch immigrants four years after the community was first settled...

students called The Pull.