About this river
Rifle River is a 32.8 mile river near White's Canoe Livery & Campground in Michigan. Streamflow is measured at the USGS gauge Rifle River near Sterling, MI (site 04142000). The National Hydrography Dataset places it at stream order 5. Reach geometry comes from the USGS National Hydrography Dataset.
Typical flow by month
1937 to 2026
Rifle River typically runs highest in April, at a median 500 cfs, and lowest in August, at 165 cfs. The highest flow on record for any single day is 7,020 cfs, in 2020.
| Month | Typical (cfs) | Usual range (cfs) | Relative level |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 230 | 198 to 285 | |
| February | 230 | 200 to 298 | |
| March | 405 | 279 to 682 | |
| April | 500 | 364 to 729 | |
| May | 323 | 264 to 444 | |
| June | 228 | 188 to 312 | |
| July | 174 | 151 to 208 | |
| August | 165 | 144 to 189 | |
| September | 166 | 146 to 205 | |
| October | 200 | 170 to 257 | |
| November | 242 | 203 to 305 | |
| December | 240 | 202 to 310 |
Typical is the median of each month’s daily median values, and the usual range runs from the median 25th to the median 75th percentile, across about 89 years of record. Statistics published by the US Geological Survey for Rifle River near Sterling, MI (site 04142000). Conditions on any given day can fall well outside the usual range. Check the current reading before you go.
Embed this gauge on your site
Paste this snippet anywhere, an outfitter page, a club site, a trip report, to show Rifle River's live streamflow, water level and 7-day trend. It reads the USGS gauge directly, updates itself, and links back here.
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