The Michigan River is a tributary of the North Platte River

North Platte River

The North Platte River is a major tributary of the Platte River and is approximately long counting its many curves, It travels about distance. Its course lies in the U.S...

, approximately 69 miles (111 km) long, in north central Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It drains a rural part of the eastern side of North Park

North Park (Colorado basin)

North Park is a high, sparsely populated basin in the Rocky Mountains in north central Colorado in the United States. It encompasses a wide valley in Jackson County rimmed by mountain ranges at the headwaters of the North Platte River and several smaller tributaries, including the Michigan River,...

 in eastern Jackson County

Jackson County, Colorado

Jackson County is the fourth-least densely populated of the Colorado 64 counties of the U.S. state of Colorado. The county population was 1,577 at the 2000 Census. The county seat and the only municipality in the county is the Town of Walden.- History :...

. The river issues from Michigan Lakes, a chain of alpine lakes at 11208 ft (3,416.2 m), along the continental divide

Continental divide

A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not connected to the open sea...

 in southeast Jackson County just east of Nokhu Craigs. It descends north then west to flow past the south end of Cameron Pass

Cameron Pass (Colorado)

Cameron Pass is a elevation mountain pass in the Rocky Mountains in north central Colorado in the United States. The pass is a gap between the south end of the Medicine Bow Mountains and the north end of the Never Summer Mountains. It sits on the border between Jackson County and Larimer County,...

, and descends from the pass along the route of State Highway 14

Colorado State Highway 14

State Highway 14 in the U.S. state of Colorado is an east–west state highway approximately long. One of the longest state highways in Colorado, it traverses four counties along the northern edge of the state, spanning a geography from the continental divide in the Rocky Mountains to the...

, past Gould

Gould, Colorado

Gould is a small unincorporated community in southeastern Jackson County, Colorado, United States. It is located on State Highway 14, southeast of Walden in North Park. The community is situated in the valley of the Middle Fork of the Michigan River between Owl Mountain and Gould Mountain. The...

, then northwest through the ranch country of North Park, where it becomes a largely braided stream with a wide river bottom. It passes just east of Walden

Walden, Colorado

The Town of Walden is a Statutory Town that is the county seat of, and the only incorporated municipality in, Jackson County, Colorado, United States. It is situated in the center of a large open valley called North Park. People from Walden and the surrounding area refer to themselves as "North...

, and receives the Illinois River

Illinois River (Colorado)

Illinois River is a tributary of the Michigan River, approximately long, in Jackson County in north central Colorado. It drains part of the North Park basin south of Walden....

from the south just north of Walden. It joins the North Platte from the south approximately 5 miles (8 km) downstream to the north.