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River

Minnesota River

534 km from source to mouth · United States.

United StatesUnited StatesFlows into Mississippi River

Follow the riverMonth by month

SourceMouth
The river and every tributary in its basin, drawn from RiverATLAS (CC BY 4.0).

In numbers

Length

534km

Average flow

120m³/s

Basin

44,000km²

Drop

103m

from 293 m to 190 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

534 km of river and 52 stops on the way: 18 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

293 m190 m
Big Stone Lakeat 293 m0 km
Marsh Lake18 km²54 km
Chippewa Rivertributary104 km
Yellow Medicine Rivertributary157 km
Redwood Rivertributary200 km
New Ulm13,327 people280 km
Oakleaf Lake0.4 km²356 km
Lake Emily0.9 km²361 km
Bloomington89,987 people490 km
Mississippi Riverat 190 m534 km
0200400534 km
  1. 0 kmBig Stone Lakeat 293 m
  2. 11 kmBig Stone Lake45 km²
  3. 12 kmWhetstone Rivertributary
  4. 40 kmYellow Bank Rivertributary
  5. 54 kmPomme de Terre Rivertributary
  6. 54 kmMarsh Lake18 km²
  7. 83 kmLac qui Parle Rivertributary
  8. 84 kmLac qui Parle23 km²
  9. 104 kmChippewa Rivertributary
  10. 104 kmMontevideo5,217 people
  11. 157 kmYellow Medicine Rivertributary
  12. 200 kmRedwood Rivertributary
  13. 280 kmNew Ulm13,327 people
  14. 297 kmCottonwood Rivertributary
  15. 297 kmLittle Cottonwood Rivertributary
  16. 334 kmNorth Mankato13,529 people
  17. 336 kmMankato41,044 people
  18. 341 kmBlue Earth Rivertributary
  19. 356 kmOakleaf Lake0.4 km²
  20. 361 kmLake Emily0.9 km²
  21. 362 kmSaint Peter11,196 people
  22. 362 kmBroadway Bridge
  23. 385 kmLe Sueur3,999 people
  24. 422 kmBelle Plaine6,918 people
  25. 439 kmJordan6,076 people
  26. 446 kmRapids Lake0.7 km²
  27. 451 kmCarver4,311 people
  28. 453 kmGifford Lake0.4 km²
  29. 455 kmChaska Bridge
  30. 456 kmChaska25,199 people
  31. 463 kmHolmes Street Bridge
  32. 463 kmShakopee39,981 people
  33. 464 kmShakopee Bridge
  34. 466 kmLake Riley1.1 km²
  35. 478 kmBloomington Ferry Bridge
  36. 479 kmBloomington Ferry Trail Bridge
  37. 479 kmRice Lake0.5 km²
  38. 483 kmDan Patch Line Bridge
  39. 484 kmCredit Rivertributary
  40. 485 kmSavage30,391 people
  41. 489 kmBurnsville61,481 people
  42. 490 kmI-35W Minnesota River bridge
  43. 490 kmBloomington89,987 people
  44. 496 kmBlack Dog Lake2.0 km²
  45. 497 kmCedar Avenue Bridge
  46. 500 kmEagan68,855 people
  47. 503 kmI-494 Minnesota River Bridge
  48. 504 kmFort Snelling440 people
  49. 506 kmSnelling Lake0.4 km²
  50. 507 kmMendota Bridge
  51. 511 kmMendota Heights11,744 people
  52. 512 kmPickerel Lake0.4 km²
  53. 512 kmWest Saint Paul19,540 people
  54. 534 kmMississippi Riverat 190 m

Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.

River in Minnesota, United States

At the mouth it carries 125 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 20 seconds. It drops from 293 m to 190 m, 0.2 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 44,000 km², about the size of DK. 3.4 million people live in it. Highest water: from May to June; lowest: from December to March. Dams and reservoirs hold back a large share of its water (28% of a year's flow).

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • BloomingtonLargest city on its banks · 89,987 people
  • Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport / Wold–Chamberlain Field (MSP)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 7 km from the cityCar hire at MSP airport (Minneapolis)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • On the water48 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • Kayak and canoe2 put-ins and rapids mapped (OpenStreetMap)
  • From May to SeptemberThe best months to visit

Minnesota River, month by month

Highest water: from May to June

Lowest water: from December to March. Freezing months (average below −4 °C): from December to February. Best months to visit: from May to September.

420
-12°19 mmJan
420
-8°18 mmFeb
420
-1°42 mmMar
550
7°61 mmApr
560
15°79 mmMay
580
20°100 mmJun
510
22°96 mmJul
510
21°88 mmAug
500
16°68 mmSep
490
9°51 mmOct
460
0°34 mmNov
430
-8°21 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 420 m³/s in the lowest month to 580 m³/s in the highest. An estimate: the monthly flow is modelled from the lowest and highest months of WaterGAP (RiverATLAS, 1971–2000) and the rain and snow along the river (WorldClim). Dams change the real rhythm. The chip is the average air temperature; below it, the month's rain.

Plan the trip

Plan the trip: boat trips, a bed by the river, a car

Car hire at MSP airport (Minneapolis)Discover CarsSee 

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

The basin

Minnesota River: the basin in numbers

95,260 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Heavily regulatedReservoirs can hold 28% of a year's flow: dams shape its seasons.
  • 3.4millionpeople live in the basin
  • 38/km²people per km²
  • 366maverage altitude of the basin
  • 679mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 5.6°Caverage air temperature
  • 3%protected areas
  • 4.9%covered by lakes
  • 4.5km³held in reservoirs

What covers the basin

  • 31% Forest
  • 50% Cropland
  • 4% Pasture
  • 2% Towns and cities

RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.

Along the river

Minnesota River: what you find on the way

  • 9DamsMarsh Lake Dam, Lac qui Parle Dam, Black Dog Lake Dam and 6 more
  • 5Weirs
  • 21WaterfallsSwan Lake Fall, Minnewankon Falls, Minnemishinona Falls and 18 more
  • 2Rapids
  • 45Boat rampsRussell A. Sorenson Landing, Snelling Lake Boat Launch and 43 more
  • 2MarinasWatergate Marina
  • 1Boat rentals
  • 4River beachesHiniker Pond Public Beach, Clayhole Beach, Snelling Beach and 1 more

From OpenStreetMap, within 2.4 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Minnesota River in our other atlases

What our sister atlases know about the waterfalls on this river, the lakes it flows through, the beaches at its mouth, the mountains where it rises and the islands off its mouth.

  • 12lakes on its wayLakeyas
  • 1mountain at the sourcePeakyas

Lakes and reservoirs (12)

Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas

  1. Big Stone Lakekm 9 · 5 m deep45km²
  2. Marsh Lakekm 4418km²
  3. Lac qui Parlekm 6823km²
  4. Lake Emilykm 2950.9km²
  5. Rapids Lakekm 3640.7km²
  6. Lake Rileykm 3811.1km²
  7. Rice Lakekm 3920.5km²
  8. Black Dog Lakekm 4062.0km²

4 more on LakeyasLakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

Mountains at the source (1)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. Big Tom Hill14 km away

Open Peakyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Minnesota River: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Minnesota River: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth42 km across

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. The glowing line is the river as drawn by RiverATLAS.

Photos

Minnesota River in pictures

Minnesota River Valley Looking NW
Joseph Gustafson · CC BY 3.0
Cedar Ave Bridge over Minnesota River - Looking Northwest
Tyler Vigen · CC BY 4.0
Cedar Ave Bridge over Minnesota River - Straight On
Tyler Vigen · CC BY 4.0
Common milkweed along the Minnesota River (27709550453)
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Midwest Region · Public domain

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

It flows into

Mississippi RiverUnited StatesUnited States3,766 km12,700 m³/s

Tributaries (20)

Also: Blue Earth River, Cottonwood River, Pomme de Terre River, Chippewa River, Little Minnesota River, Lac qui Parle River, Redwood River, Whetstone River, Rush River, Little Cottonwood River, Yellow Bank River, Yellow Medicine River, Credit River, High Island Creek, Sand Creek, Nine Mile Creek, Morgan Creek, Beaver Creek, Eightmile Creek, Little Rock Creek

In the same basin

Missouri RiverUnited StatesUnited States3,726 km2,500 m³/sOhio RiverUnited StatesUnited States1,579 km8,000 m³/sArkansas RiverUnited StatesUnited States2,364 km240 m³/sTennessee RiverUnited StatesUnited States1,049 km2,000 m³/sRed RiverUnited StatesUnited States2,189 km1,900 m³/sYellowstone RiverUnited StatesUnited States1,114 km390 m³/sPlatte RiverUnited StatesUnited States500 km200 m³/sCanadian RiverUnited StatesUnited States1,458 km200 m³/sIllinois RiverUnited StatesUnited States432 km660 m³/sAllegheny RiverUnited StatesUnited States523 km560 m³/s

Nearby

Rivers nearby

Wisconsin RiverUnited StatesUnited States692 km340 m³/s266 km awayJames RiverUnited StatesUnited States1,143 km18 m³/s401 km awayRock RiverUnited StatesUnited States459 km190 m³/s432 km awayPlatte RiverUnited StatesUnited States500 km200 m³/s484 km awayIowa RiverUnited StatesUnited States520 km280 m³/s450 km awayNiobrara RiverUnited StatesUnited States915 km1,000 m³/s459 km away

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q1136502) · CC0
Course, profile, basinRiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth given by Wikidata
FlowWaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Climate along the riverWorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Towns, bridges, damsWikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0
Along the river© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Our other atlasesLakeyas, Peakyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; HydroLAKES · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST

Every source and licence is on the data sources page.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit