I know that I'm kind of a nerd, but has anybody seen the beginning of the Mississippi River. I know there are a lot of Minneapolis people on the Org. I've tried to find pictures of the beginning of the river. Does anybody have any pics? This topic came up at work today because it's been all in the news about how the river is flooded.

We got in a debate to where does the River start. I thought it started from one of the great lakes. We looked it up and the river starts near St.Paul. My co-worker said it starts from an underground spring, and I said that is impossible.

Can anybody provide pics of the start of the river?

Sowhat said:

I must admit, I do not have the concept of a river down. It has to have a beginning and I understand that a lot of times there are tributaries that contribute to the main river itself but how does a river begin? Always from melted icepack? From an aquaduct in the ground? someone please splain!

Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its mouth in The Gulf of Mexico. The longest river, a Mississippi tributary, is the Missouri River measuring 2,341 mi (3,767 km).

Googled "beginning of the Mississippi River" and this came up:



Lake Itasca, Minnesota. Looks like a marshland.

Some lady named Karla at the start of the river:



It must be all the other tributaries that contribute to the mighty Mississip because no way in hell is that the start of one of the biggest rivers on the planet

Mississippi River Drainage Basin:



Fascinating!

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

see that bit that goes into canada? that's me!
i was just going to post that even where i live in the prairies
we are a part of the missouri basin and by extension the mississippi

Sowhat said:

damn.

ehuffnsd said:

wow...it looks a lot prettier at the beginning than it does at the end, that's for sure.

the Mississippi River is right next to my school and sometimes, if the weather is not too oppressively hot, our head clinician will let us have rounds up on the levee overlooking the river.

back in March, when it was really high it was cool to see but the water is all brown and dirty looking. Not something that I would like to swim in but it's still cool to watch.

ehuffnsd said:

Yep...there it is...the headwaters at Itasca State Park...been there bunches of times as a kid...very beautiful state park....

I have a pic somewhere when I was about 10...we were hanging out at the public beach at the park and some deer just walked through with no fear of humans...the pic is of me feeding them chhese puffs or something....

If you are in Minnesota....and have time to sightsee...I highly recommend Itasca State Park..it is a long ass drive from the cities but worth it...

I've been to Lake Itasca and walked across the stepping stones, but it was back in the mid-70s. Most of it is a blur now.

As far as towns along the Mississippi, I lived in Winona, MN for a few years while going to college there. EXCELLENT scenic town! http://www.visitwinona.com/ One of the best things was walk down to the levy and watch the barges go by. Sometimes we'd go at night and wave and yell to them to get them to shine their spotlight on us.