After flowing north, it turns east and then south, draining the town of Pellston and its airport.
[1][2] South of Pellston, the river's West Branch runs into Lake Kathleen, a small flowage created by the logging-era Maple River Dam (reconstructed in 1967).
Maple River Township, a semi-built-up area with pastureland farms and summer homes, is named after the now-substantial stream.
The river then discharges through a laced network of outflow creeks, locally called "the spreads", into Maple Bay and the adjacent Bullhead Bay on the shoreline of Burt Lake.
[2] The Maple River, including its West Branch and East Branch, drain an area of approximately 168 square miles (440 km2) in Michigan's extreme Northern Lower Peninsula.