A former whitewater stretch northwest of Alpena, the "Long Rapids", carried the river down from the northern Michigan plateau to Thunder Bay.

[3] As of 2007[update], planning was underway for a $3.4 million river-edge boardwalk, the 2,800-foot-long (850 m) Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Trail on the north shore of the Thunder Bay River in central Alpena.

[4] Eager to help the motor vehicle industry, the Michigan Department of Transportation was one of the first state agencies in the U.S. to build concrete bridges.

[5] The Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Trail will include a new pedestrian bridge across the Thunder Bay in central Alpena.

[4] According to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the Thunder Bay River, and especially Fletcher Pond, have populations of bass, pike, and panfish.