Calumet

River formed southeast of Lake Calumet, on the southeast border of Chicago, Illinois, by the Little Calumet and Grand Calumet rivers; length 13 km/8 mi. It flows north and northeast through a dredged and dock-lined channel to Lake Michigan at Calumet Harbor.

The Little Calumet rises near Gary, Indiana, and flows generally west into Illinois, to Blue Island, where it turns east again towards its junction with the Grand Calumet. Just after this turn, it is joined by the Calumet Sag Channel, which connects with the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal near Sag Bridge. The Grand Calumet also flows east from the Gary area, passing though East Chicago and Hammond on its way to the junction. In East Chicago it is connected directly with Indiana Harbor, on Lake Michigan, by a ship canal.

The Calumet area, including the Illinois communities of Calumet City and southern parts of Chicago, as well as Gary, Hammond, East Chicago, Whiting, and other Indiana municipalities, is one of the most heavily industrialized regions in the USA, and one in which natural waterways have been most thoroughly altered.