South (and West) Branch of the Ontonagon - Ewen to Victoria Dam
This video documents a solo canoe trip I did in early May 2021. Water levels were relatively low for this time of year. There is no official gage on this stretch of river, but the USGS has gages on the Cisco Branch upstream of here (waterdata.usgs.gov/mi/nwis/uv...) and the West Branch (waterdata.usgs.gov/mi/nwis/uv...) which joins the South Branch about 20 miles downstream of Ewen.
Upper Peninsula Power Company (UPPCO) also provides a website showing flows in the area (www.uppco.com/hydro-water-lev.... The Bond Falls Canal System flow is the relevant one for this stretch as the canal flows into Bluff then Sucker Creeks which ultimately join the South Branch 10+ miles upstream of Ewen.
Total paddling distance for this trip is 26-27 miles. There are no intermediate access points between the put-in at Ewen and the take-out at Victoria Dam. Both the put-in (at Hwy M-28 in Ewen) and the take-out (at Victoria Dam) have easy river access and gravel parking areas.
The water is heavily sedimented due to the clay banks in the area. To be honest, the first 8 miles or so of the trip isn't all that interesting as the current is slow with steep muddy banks backed by lowland forest and farm fields. After that, the scenery improves considerably. As the river enters the Ottawa National Forest, the current picks up, the topography changes to high hills, and the forest changes to a mix of pine, hemlock, and hardwoods. There are numerous potential camping spots in the stretch between the start of the national forest and the confluence with the West Branch of the Ontonagon. There are many long stretches of class I-II rapids in this stretch.
After the confluence, the river is known as the West Branch even though the South Branch is larger. The river becomes wider and slower here until about 2 miles above the Victoria Reservoir. Sandstone Rapids and "The Chute" are in this stretch. Sandstone Rapids is a long, technical class II rapids with several sandstone ledges and slides. I did it at relatively low water (for spring-time), so lots of maneuvering was required but the waves weren't too big. At higher flows, the waves are reported to get much larger and can swamp open canoes.
After Sandstone Rapids, there is another class II rapids (The Chute) that empties directly into Victoria Reservoir. From here, it's about a 2 mile flatwater paddle across Victoria Reservoir to the landing on river left above the dam.
Resources
"Canoeing Michigan Rivers" by Jerry Dennis and Craig Date
"Water Trails of Ontonagon County" by Dean Juntunen which is included in the book "Multi-Use Trails Guide For the Western Upper Peninsula of Michigan - Volume 2"