Where is the widest part of the Mississippi River?
At Lake Itasca, the river is between 20 and 30 feet wide, the narrowest stretch for its entire length. The widest part of the Mississippi can be found at Lake Winnibigoshish near Bena, MN, where it is wider than 11 miles.
Where was the head of navigation on the Mississippi River?
The head of navigation on the Mississippi is the Coon Rapids Dam in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. Before it was built in 1913, steamboats could occasionally go upstream as far as Saint Cloud, Minnesota, depending on river conditions.
Which is the only waterfall on the Mississippi River?
The origin of the dramatic drop is a waterfall preserved adjacent to the lock under an apron of concrete. Saint Anthony Falls is the only true waterfall on the entire Mississippi River. The water elevation continues to drop steeply as it passes through the gorge carved by the waterfall.
How long does it take the Mississippi River to reach the Gulf of Mexico?
At New Orleans the river flows at about three miles per hour. But the speed changes as water levels rise or fall and where the river widens, narrows, becomes more shallow or some combination of these factors. It takes about three months for water that leaves Lake Itasca, the river’s source, to reach the Gulf of Mexico.
How many species of mussels are in the Mississippi River?
From Cairo, IL upstream to Lake Itasca there are 38 documented species of mussel. On the Lower Mississippi, there may be as many as 60 separate species of mussel; The Upper Mississippi is host to more than 50 mammal species; At least 145 species of amphibians and reptiles inhabit the Upper Mississippi River environs.
Are there river otters in the Mississippi River?
River Otters. North American river otters ( Lontra canadensis) were nearly extinct 100 years ago in the Upper Mississippi River Basin. Their return to the Twin Cities since the 1980’s is a success story for water quality on the Mississippi River.
Where does the name Mississippi River come from?
The word Mississippi comes from Messipi, the French rendering of the Anishinaabe (Ojibwe or Algonquin) name for the river, Misi-ziibi (Great River). The Mississippi River water source is fed by Lake Itasca in Northern Minnesota and flows all the way down into the Gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi River is best…