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Longest streams of Minnesota

Out of the 6,564 streams that flow through the U.S. State of Minnesota, there are 114 streams that are at least 30 miles long. The second longest river in the United States, the Mississippi River, originates in Minnesota before flowing south to the Gulf of Mexico. The longest river entirely within the state of Minnesota is the Minnesota River. Other rivers over 200 miles long include the Red River of the North, Des Moines River, Cedar River, Wapsipinicon River, Little Sioux River, and Roseau River.

Sections of several of the longest rivers define sections of the Minnesota border. The Red River of the North forms the border with North Dakota to the west. The Bois de Sioux River forms the border with South Dakota to the west. The Mississippi River, St. Croix River, and the St. Louis River form the border with Wisconsin to the east. The Rainy River and Pigeon River form the border with Ontario, Canada to the north.

Minnesota contains three major drainage basins with waters from Minnesota rivers flowing south, north, or east. These major drainage basins meet in a triple divide point called the Hill of Three Waters, just north of Hibbing, Minnesota.

• The Mississippi River drains south to the Gulf of Mexico. In Minnesota, this basin is traditionally subdivided into the following major sub-basins:
  • Headwaters of the Mississippi River (above St. Paul)
  • Minnesota River drainage basin (17,000 sq mi (44,000 km))
  • St. Croix River drainage basin (7,700 sq mi (20,000 km))
  • Lower portion of the Upper Mississippi River (Below St. Paul). Some of these rivers discharge into the Mississippi within the borders of Minnesota, and some farther south, including the Des Moines River, the Cedar / Iowa River, and others
  • Tributaries of the Missouri River also have drainage basins in far southwest Minnesota
• Water flows to the north in the Hudson Bay/Arctic drainage basin (3,861,400 sq mi (10,001,000 km)), which includes the Red River of the North drainage basin (111,004 sq mi (287,500 km)) and Lake of the Woods drainage basin (13,805 sq mi (35,750 km))—of which 7,285 sq mi (18,870 km) is in Minnesota.
• The Great Lakes Basin to the east includes the Lake Superior drainage basin in Minnesota and Wisconsin (49,300 sq mi (128,000 km)). Minnesota water flows eastward through the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean.

Table of longest streams

A sortable table below lists the 114 streams flowing in Minnesota that have a total length greater than or equal to 30 miles. The stream's tributary and watershed are given. The source or mouth of some streams is in other U.S. states or Canadian provinces. Other than border rivers, the only rivers that originate in other states are the Little Minnesota River (South Dakota), St. Croix River (Wisconsin), and Upper Tamarack River (Wisconsin). The 21 streams that are not entirely within the state are indicated by a † after the order number. The coordinates and location county of the mouth and source of the stream are indicated, as well as the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Geographic Names Information System ID and other references and notes. Lengths and elevations are derived from the National Elevation Dataset or reference to it in the USGS GNIS Database. A link to an Open Street Map template is listed at the top of this article that will generate a map showing the source and mouth coordinates of all of these streams. For consistency and accuracy, the sources for this information are primarily data from the USGS GeoNames and National Elevation database, supplemented by other sources.

Map of Minnesota streams and lakes

The map below shows the major streams and lakes in Minnesota.

Gallery

• 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.
• Buffalo River in Buffalo River State Park
• Cannon River in Northfield
• Cedar River near Austin, Minnesota
• Clearwater River (Mississippi River tributary)
• Cobb River in Blue Earth County
• Cottonwood River in Flandrau State Park
• Crow Wing River in Oylen, Wadena County, Minnesota
• Embarrass River in Winter
• Le Sueur River near Red Jacket trail
• Little Cannon River near Sogn, Minnesota
• 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
• Mustinka River straightened and re-routed section in Redpath Township of Traverse County
• Otter Tail River and sunset near Otter Tail Lake and Ottertail, Minnesota
• Partridge River at Bartlett Township, Todd County, Minnesota
• Pigeon River High Falls at Grand Portage State Park
• Red River of the North as viewed from Fargo, North Dakota
• Rum River in Princeton, Minnesota
• St. Croix River viewed in Wisconsin
• St. Louis River at Thomson, Minnesota
• Straight River near Owatonna, Minnesota
• Vermilion River in St. Louis County

See also

• Geography of Minnesota
• List of longest rivers in the United States by state
• List of rivers of Minnesota
• List of rivers of Iowa
• List of rivers of North Dakota
• List of rivers of South Dakota
• List of rivers of Wisconsin
• List of lakes of Minnesota

Notes

1. In North America, the term watershed is commonly used to mean a drainage basin, though in other English-speaking countries, it is used only in its original sense, that of a drainage divide.
2. The state is given for non-Minnesota counties
3. ^ Portions of the Brule (31.5 mi), Cloquet (29.9), Little Cannon (12.5 mi), Little Isabella (33.17), Nemadji (13.44 mi), Temperance (24.56 mi), and Vermillion (22.8) rivers, are Minnesota DNR designated trout streams.
4. ^ Length is an average of the 2013 lengths
5. The USGS National dataset lists the elevation of the Temperance River as 597 ft (182 m)
6. The St. Louis River forms the border between St. Louis County, Minnesota and Douglas County, Wisconsin before it discharges into Lake Superior.
7. The USGS National dataset lists the elevation of the St. Louis River as 597 ft (182 m)
8. 32.8 miles of the Nemadji River flows through Minnesota.
9. The USGS National dataset lists the elevation Nemadji River as 597 ft (182 m)
10. The Mississippi River at its source has an elevation of 1,475 ft (450 m)
11. The Mississippi River flows for 680 mi (1,090 km) within Minnesota.
12. The elevation of the Minnesota River is 964 ft (294 m) at its source
13. 129.2 miles of the St. Croix River flow either on the Minnesota border or within Minnesota.
14. The source elevation of the Red River of the North is 948 ft (289 m)
15. According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, 394 mi (634 km) of the Red River of the North are in the United States. This amounts to about 72 percent of the main-stem length.
16. The Rock River flows for 88.9 mi (143.1 km) within Minnesota.
17. The Des Moines River flows for 68 mi (109 km) within Minnesota.
18. The Cedar River flows for a little over 25 mi (40 km) within Minnesota.
19. The Upper Iowa River flows for 50.4 mi (81.1 km) in Minnesota.
20. Wapsipinicon River has a source elevation of 1,348 ft (411 m)
21. The Clearwater River is a MN DNR designated trout stream.
22. The Pine River (Mississippi River tributary) should not be confused with the Pine River (Minnesota–Ontario) or Pine River (Saint Louis River tributary), both of which are less than 30 miles long.
23. The Roseau River flows for 116.6 mi (187.6 km) in Minnesota

References

1. ^ "Lakes, rivers & wetlands". MN Facts. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. 2003. Retrieved September 16, 2006.
2. "The longest rivers in Minnesota". World Atlas. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
3. Kaul, Greta (March 8, 2019). "Minnesota eastern border: a river runs through it except this one part". Minnesota Post.
4. "Hill of Three Waters or Triple Divide". Historical Markers Database. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
5. "Great Lakes Factos". EPA. Archived from the original on 2010-10-29. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
6. "National Elevation Dataset". USGS.
7. Waters, Thomas F. (1977). Streams and Rivers of Minnesota. Minneapolis: University Of Minnesota Press. ISBN 0816609608.
8. The mouth coordinates, mouth elevation, and source coordinates are from the Geographic Names Information System (United States Geological Survey) listing for each river except for the source coordinates of the rivers originated in Canada, which are from the Canadian Geographical Names Data Base.
9. When locations are not otherwise available, locations are derived from searching Google Maps using Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) source or mouth coordinates.
10. "Minnesota stream search". USGS GNIS Database.
11. Lengths and elevations are derived from the "National Elevation Dataset". USGS. or reference to it in the USGS GNIS Database
12. ^ "Minnesota Rivers". National Park Service. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
13. "Trout Opportunities in Minnesota". MN DNR. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
14. ^ "Great Lakes Water Levels" (PDF). United States Army Corps of Engineers. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 18, 2013. Retrieved June 27, 2013. The link also has daily elevations for the current month.
15. "Little Isabella River Campground". fs.usda.gov. Retrieved 2017-09-11.
16. "Little Isabella River". MN DNR. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
17. ^ "Longest Rivers in Minnesota". Minnesota Fun Facts. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
18. "Red River of the North: A Water Trail Guide" (PDF). Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. 2010. Retrieved February 19, 2011.
19. USGS. "The National Map".
20. ^ "Des Moines River State Water Trail Map" (PDF). MN DNR. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
21. "Cedar River State Water Trail Map" (PDF). MN DNR. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
22. "Root River State Water Trail Map" (PDF). MN DNR. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
23. ^ "Cannon and Straight State Water Trail Map" (PDF). MN DNR. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
24. Waters, Thomas F. (1977). Streams and Rivers of Minnesota. Minneapolis: University Of Minnesota Press. pp. 84–85. ISBN 0816609608.
25. ^ "Blue Earth State Water Trail Map" (PDF). MN DNR. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
26. "Clearwater River". MN DNR. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
27. "Crow Wing River State Water Trail Map" (PDF). MN DNR. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
28. "Long Prairie State Water Trail Map" (PDF). MN DNR. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
29. "Big Fork River State Water Trail Map" (PDF). MN DNR. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
30. "Little Fork River State Water Trail Map" (PDF). MN DNR. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
31. Waters, Thomas F. (1977). Streams and Rivers of Minnesota. Minneapolis: University Of Minnesota Press. p. 119. ISBN 0816609608.
32. Waters, Thomas F. (1977). Streams and Rivers of Minnesota. Minneapolis: University Of Minnesota Press. p. 107. ISBN 0816609608.
33. "Map of Minnesota Rivers" (PDF). U.S. Department of Interior, U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved December 16, 2021.

General references

• Mary E. Renwick; Susanna Eden. "Minnesota Rivers, a Primer" (PDF). Water Resources Center, University of Minnesota.
• "Current Conditions for Minnesota: Streamflow -- 149 site(s) found". USGS. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
• Waters, Thomas F. (2010). The Rivers of Minnesota: Recreation and Conservation. Riparian Press. ISBN 978-0963761620.
• Waters, Thomas F. (1980). Streams and Rivers of Minnesota. Univ Of Minnesota Press. ISBN 0816609608.

• United States
• Rivers

• Rivers of Minnesota
• Lists of longest rivers in the United States by state
• Minnesota geography-related lists