The Missouri River is the longest river in the United States. Rising in the Eastern Centennial Mountains of the Bitteroot Range of the Rocky Mountains of Southwestern Montana, the Missouri flows east and south for 2,341 miles (3,767 km) before entering the Mississippi River north of St. Louis, Missouri. The river drains a sparsely populated, semi-arid watershed of more than 500,000 square miles (1,300,000 km2), which includes parts of ten U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. Although a tributary of the Mississippi, the Missouri River is slightly longer and carries a comparable volume of water. When combined with the lower Mississippi River, it forms the world's fourth longest river system.
Lake Agassiz was a large proglacial lake that existed in central North America during late Pleistocene, fed by meltwater from the retreating Laurentide Ice Sheet at the end of the last glacial period. At its peak, the lake's area was larger than all of the modern Great Lakes combined.
A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, the drainage divide, made up of a succession of elevated features, such as ridges and hills. A basin may consist of smaller basins that merge at river confluences, forming a hierarchical pattern.
The Minnesota River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 332 miles (534 km) long, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It drains a watershed of 14,751 square miles (38,200 km2) in Minnesota and about 2,000 sq mi (5,200 km2) in South Dakota and Iowa.
The Cannon River a tributary of the Mississippi River flows 112 miles (180 km) from Shields Lake near Shieldsville to Red Wing in the U.S. state of Minnesota, where it joins the Mississippi River. It drains a watershed approximately 1460 square miles (3,780 km²) in size. The river flows through the counties of Le Sueur, Rice, Dakota, and Goodhue.
The Lac qui Parle River is a tributary of the Minnesota River, 118 miles (190 km) long, in southwestern Minnesota in the United States. A number of tributaries of the river, including its largest, the West Branch Lac qui Parle River, also flow in eastern South Dakota. Via the Minnesota River, the Lac qui Parle River is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of 1,156 square miles (2,990 km2) in an agricultural region. Slightly more than two-thirds of the Lac qui Parle watershed is in Minnesota. Lac qui parle means "lake which speaks" in the French language, and was a translation of the Sioux name for Lac qui Parle, a lake on the Minnesota River upstream of the mouth of the Lac qui Parle River.
The Root River flows for 80 miles (130 km) through the Driftless Area of southeastern Minnesota and is a tributary of the Upper Mississippi River. The Root River is formed by three branches, the North, South and Middle branches of the Root River and the South Fork Root River. It is an excellent river for canoeing and fishing. The gentle to moderate flowing river drops an average of 3.4 ft/mile from Chatfield, Minnesota, to its pour point in the Mississippi River into Navigation Pool 7 just south of La Crosse, Wisconsin and east of Hokah, Minnesota.
The Knife River is a 27.4-mile-long (44.1 km) tributary of the Snake River in east-central Minnesota in the United States. It is one of three streams in Minnesota with this name. Its name is a translation from the Dakota Isaanti. Knife Lake and Santee Sioux are named after this river. In turn Isanti County is named after the Santee Sioux.
The Mustinka River is a tributary of Lake Traverse, 68 mi (109 km) long, in western Minnesota in the United States. Via Lake Traverse, the Bois de Sioux River, the Red River of the North, Lake Winnipeg, and the Nelson River, it is part of the watershed of Hudson Bay. The river drains an area of 909 square miles (2,350 km2).
The Kettle is an 83.6-mile-long (134.5 km) tributary of the St. Croix River in eastern Minnesota in the United States. Via the St. Croix River, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River. The river's English name is due to the large number of large rounded holes (kettles) in the sandstone in and around the river, carved out by the swirling waters of the river. The river's Dakota name Céġa watpa entered into English via the Anishinaabe people's Akiko-ziibi, both meaning "Kettle River".
The Crow River is a tributary of the Mississippi River in south-central Minnesota in the United States. It drains a watershed of 2,756 square miles (7,140 km2).
Rice Creek is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the northern suburbs of the Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area of Minnesota in the United States. It is approximately 28 miles (45 km) long and drains a watershed of 201 square miles (520 km2).
The Traverse Gap is an ancient river channel occupied by Lake Traverse, Big Stone Lake and the valley connecting them at Browns Valley, Minnesota. It is located on the border of the U.S. states of Minnesota and South Dakota. Traverse Gap has an unusual distinction for a valley: it is crossed by a continental divide, and in some floods water has flowed across that divide from one drainage basin to the other. Before the Anglo-American Convention of 1818 it marked the border between British territory in the north and U.S. – or earlier, French – territory in the south.
The Long Prairie River is a tributary of the Crow Wing River, 96 miles (154 km) long, in central Minnesota in the United States. Via the Crow Wing River, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of 892 square miles (2,310 km2) in a generally rural region.
The Whitewater River is a 16.6-mile-long (26.7 km) tributary of the Upper Mississippi River which flows through the Driftless Area of Minnesota, reaching its mouth in Wabasha County at the community of Weaver opposite Buffalo, Wisconsin. The nearest towns are Altura, Saint Charles, and Elba. The region hosts endangered native dry oak savannas, semiforested areas that seem to have been dependent on fire for their well-being.
Hay Creek is a small trout stream in southeastern Minnesota. It has its headwaters west of Goodhue and empties into the Mississippi River just to the north of Red Wing. It runs 25.1 miles (40.4 km). Hay Creek was named for the hay meadows near its banks. A railroad once ran along Hay Creek from the claybanks near Goodhue to the pottery and stoneware factories in Red Wing, which also made use of the water from the creek. The railroad was torn up in 1937, but traces such as trestle pilings remain.
Wisconsin, a state in the Midwestern United States, has a vast and diverse geography famous for its landforms created by glaciers during the Wisconsin glaciation 17,000 years ago. The state can be generally divided into five geographic regions—Lake Superior Lowland, Northern Highland, Central Plain, Eastern Ridges & Lowlands, and Western Upland. The southwestern part of the state, which was not covered by glaciers during the most recent ice age, is known as the Driftless Area. The Wisconsin glaciation formed the Wisconsin Dells, Devil's Lake, and the Baraboo Range. A number of areas are protected in the state, including Devil's Lake State Park, the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, and the Chequamegon–Nicolet National Forest.
The Blackhoof River is a 26.3-mile-long (42.3 km) tributary of the North Fork Nemadji River in Carlton County, Minnesota, United States, flowing via the Nemadji River to Lake Superior.
Winnebago Creek is a 23.6-mile-long (38.0 km) tributary of the Mississippi River in southeastern Minnesota. Winnebago Creek was named after the Winnebago Indians.
Topographic map of Minnesota streams, lakes and rivers in blue
Bois de Sioux River below Lake Traverse dam. Roberts County, South Dakota is at left, and Traverse County, Minnesota is at right.
Cobb River in Blue Earth County
Embarrass River in Winter
Le Sueur River near Red Jacket trail
Minnesota River Mendota Heights bridge
Mississippi River source at Lake Itasca
Mississippi River and Minnesota River confluence near Fort Snelling State Park
Mississippi River at St. Anthony Falls in Minneapolis
Pigeon River High Falls at Grand Portage State Park
Red River of the North as viewed from Fargo, North Dakota
St. Croix River viewed in Wisconsin
Vermilion River in St. Louis County
