Location
The Valparaiso system includes five moraines north of Chicago. The most northerly reach is to the headwaters of the Fox River in Waukesha County, west of Milwaukee. The moraine angles to the south and east, reaching the headwaters of the Des Plaines River west of Kenosha, Wisconsin, in the county of the same name. The moraine forms a major portion of the eastern divide of the Fox River Basin and then the western bank of the Des Plaines River. The moraine continues southward along the Des Plaines River following the route of the modern Tri-State Tollway (I-294) around the west side of Chicago. Where the Des Plaines River bends to the west and forms the Illinois River, the moraine angles south and east, continuing along I-294 towards Chicago Heights. In this area, the moraine has widened out towards the south and east, becoming a broad plain covering large portions of Will and Kankakee counties. Turning eastward, the moraine enters Indiana.
The moraine is 17 miles (27 km) wide as it passes through Lake County, Indiana, covering nearly half of the county's midsection. As it passes through Porter County, Indiana, it is under the city of Valparaiso, from which it derives its name. Through Indiana, the moraine forms a "continental divide" between the drainage of the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico by the Mississippi River.
The moraine now turns northeast, passing just north of La Porte, Indiana, through the county of the same name. Upon entering Michigan the moraine forms much of the shoreline of Lake Michigan northward through St. Joseph. From here northward the moraine angles more eastward, missing Holland and passing through Grand Rapids, finally ending in a mingling of inter-lobe moraines about 50 miles (80 km) northwest of Grand Rapids in Montcalm County.
Read more about this topic: Valparaiso Moraine