The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it flows generally south for 2,340 miles (3,766 km) to the Mississippi River Delta in the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains all or parts of 32 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces between the Rocky and Appalachian mountains. The main stem is entirely within the United States; the total drainage basin is 1,151,000 sq mi (2,980,000 km2), of which only about one percent is in Canada. The Mississippi ranks as the thirteenth-largest river by discharge in the world. The river either borders or passes through the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
Grand Tower is a city in Jackson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 605 at the 2010 census. The town gets its name from Tower Rock, a landmark island in the Mississippi River.
Big Lake National Wildlife Refuge is an 11,047-acre (45 km²) National Wildlife Refuge located in Mississippi County, Arkansas, managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. It is situated 2 miles (3.2 km) east of Manila, Arkansas, and consists mostly of a shallow lake, swamp, and bottomland hardwood forests. The preservation of habitat for waterfowl in an intensely agricultural region is the primary purpose of the refuge. 6,400 acres (20 km²) of Big Lake is classified as a National Natural Landmark and 2,144 acres (8 km²) are classified as wilderness.
The Kankakee River is a tributary of the Illinois River, approximately 133 miles (214 km) long, in the Central Corn Belt Plains of northwestern Indiana and northeastern Illinois in the United States. At one time, the river drained one of the largest wetlands in North America and furnished a significant portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. Significantly altered from its original channel, it flows through a primarily rural farming region of reclaimed cropland, south of Lake Michigan.
The Little River is a tributary of the St. Francis River, about 148 miles (238 km) long, in southeastern Missouri and northeastern Arkansas in the United States. Via the St. Francis, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River.
Pere Marquette State Park is an 8,050-acre (3,260 ha) protected area in southwestern Jersey County, Illinois, United States. It is located near the city of Grafton, Illinois, at the confluence of the Mississippi River and the Illinois River. The park is located on Illinois Route 100, which at this location is also part of both the Great River Road and the Meeting of the Great Rivers Scenic Byway. The park is operated and maintained by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, and is Illinois' largest state park in area. The park is also part of the Confluence Greenway and is at the northwestern end of the 21.5-mile (34.6 km) Sam Vadalabene Bike Trail.
The Yellow River is a 62.3-mile-long (100.3 km) tributary of the Kankakee River in the Central Corn Belt Plains ecoregion, located in northern Indiana in the United States. Via the Kankakee and Illinois rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of 427 square miles (1,110 km2).
Baldwin Lake is a 2,018-acre (817 ha) reservoir which spans part of the border between Randolph County, Illinois and St. Clair County, Illinois. The lake is part of the Kaskaskia River State Fish and Wildlife Area, near 38°13′03″N089°52′09″W Elevation: 430 feet (130 m), operated by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, and it is adjacent to, but not part of, the Kaskaskia River. Its elevation may fluctuate with powerplant operations, but averages 423 feet (129 m) above sea level.
The Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge is a 11,122-acre (45.01 km2) wetland wildlife refuge located in Waterford Township in Fulton County, Illinois across the Illinois River from the town of Havana. Only 3,000 acres (12 km2) are currently managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as part of the Illinois River National Wildlife and Fish Refuges Complex. It is in the Central forest-grasslands transition ecoregion.
Grand Tower Township is one of sixteen townships in Jackson County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2010 census, its population was 707 and it contained 336 housing units.
Fountain Bluff is a large, isolated range of hills located in the floodplain of the Mississippi River, on the river's east bank in Fountain Bluff Township, Illinois. Its unusual geographic location was a result of glaciation during the previous Ice Age. It is known for its high steep sandstone cliffs along the river, its biodiversity and abundant Native American rock art.
Lake Ophelia National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1988 to protect the Mississippi/Red River floodplain ecosystem. The refuge is located in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana, east central Louisiana. The refuge is named for its most prominent water body, the 350-acre (1.4 km2) Lake Ophelia that was at one time a channel of the nearby Red River of the South.
The Great River National Wildlife Refuge protects approximately 11,600 acres (47 km2) along 120 miles (190 km) of the Mississippi River, stretching north of St. Louis, Missouri. Three separate units are located in the floodplain, on both the Illinois and Missouri sides of the river.
The Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway is a flood control component of the Mississippi River and Tributaries Project located on the west bank of the Mississippi River in southeast Missouri just below the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. The construction of the floodway was authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1928 and later modified by the Flood Control Act of 1965. Its purpose is to divert water from the Mississippi River during major flood events and lower the flood stages upstream, notably at Cairo, Illinois.
The bantam sunfish is a species of freshwater fish in the genus Lepomis common throughout Louisiana, in extreme southeastern Texas, in southern Arkansas, and in a few places in western Kentucky and western Tennessee.
Brazeau is one of the eight townships located in Perry County, Missouri, in the United States of America.
Tunica Lake is an oxbow lake located in Lee County, Arkansas and Tunica County, Mississippi. The Arkansas-Mississippi border follows the center of the narrow, curving lake.
Lake Whittington is an oxbow lake located in Bolivar County, Mississippi, and Desha County, Arkansas, United States. The Arkansas-Mississippi border follows the center of the narrow, curving lake.
Lake Washington is an oxbow lake in Washington County, Mississippi, United States.
The Mississippi Alluvial Plain is a Level III ecoregion designated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in seven U.S. states, though predominantly in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. It parallels the Mississippi River from the Midwestern United States to the Gulf of Mexico.
