Where The Mississippi River Starts

I first met the Mississippi River in 1972 when my mom moved – with me and my two siblings from Brooklyn, NY to rural Iowa. We first arrived in Clinton, IA where the MIssissippi is 3 miles wide.

After graduating college in 1988, I moved to St. Paul, MN where the Mississippi is narrower – maybe a half-mile wide, can’t find anything definitive – but still very impressive. Spring flooding due to snow melt is an annual concern, and major floods occur such as in 1965 where the river crested 26 feet over flood stage.

While occasionally I’ve crossed the Mississippi in northern Minnesota and thought how small it seemed, I’ve never actually stopped and admired it. And though I’ve heard others say I’ve hopped, skipped, and jumped over the Mississippi, until this year I’ve never gone to see where the river begins.

Background

The Mississippi River is the second-longest (2,340 miles/3,766 km) and largest volume of discharge (600,000 ft^3/17,000 m^3 per second) river in North America. There are 29 locks-and-dams, making it navigable as far north as Minneapolis. The Mississippi has over 250 tributaries including major rivers such as the Missouri, Ohio, Illinois, and Arkansas rivers. Substantial commerce is transported on the river. Needless to say, it’s vitally important to the United States economy.

The Great Flood of 1993

I lived and worked in London when the 1993 flood occurred, so I lived it through BBC news reporting. The extent of the flooding was made clear through comparison: the area flooded was larger than England and Wales combined. When hearing this, a colleague couldn’t grasp the magnitude and decided, as he put it, be eccentrically English and just ignore it. To him and others, it was just incomprehensible.

Getting There

Driving

The headwaters of the Mississippi River are part of the Itasca State Park in north central Minnesota, the nearest town is Zerkel, MN. Public transportation is not an option, therefore you’ll be driving

From State Highway 200, you enter the park via the North Entrance. Turn right at the stop sign and proceed to the Mary Gibbs Mississippi Headwaters Center where you can park and, more importantly, buy a day pass for the park.

A vehicle day-pass is $7 (July 2023) and must be purchased online or at the Mary Gibbs Center; self-payment envelopes on-site are no longer accepted. The mobile coverage was spotty within the park so we purchased on-site, just remember to put the receipt on your dashboard before enjoying the park.

Walking

Hiking is too strong a word: from parking lot to headwaters is approximately 1000 ft/305m along a groomed, well-marked, and fairly flat trail. And you’re not going to get lost: most good-weather days has crowds walking to and from the headwaters, so very difficult to miss.

Now What?

Marvel

At this point, Lake Itasca empties into the Mississippi River – truthfully, more of a stream than a river at this point – and it’s borderline incomprehensible that in 90 days the water will travel 2340 miles and end up in the Gulf of Mexico. And the water is pristine here.

Cross

Granted, many bridges spanning the Mississippi River allow pedestrians, but here it’s a simple plank with no guardrails only feet about the water!

Walk On

For those of you who don’t want to take off your shoes, a series of rocks let you hop, skip, and jump across the river – though don’t jump too hard, the rocks are sometimes slimy and slippery.

Walk In

Yes, really, the Mississippi River is only ankle deep here. We saw some people walking further downstream where it was perhaps waist deep. Supposedly you can even float on innertubes nearby but we didn’t see anyone tubing.

What Else?

Headwaters Center

Just outside the center are a number of exhibits explaining the history, importance and impact of the Mississippi River on the country. We didn’t have time to read everything but what I saw was interesting.

Besides the store, the center also has a cafe and the requisite restrooms.

Trails

Aside from the marked trail from the center to the headwaters, alternative trails are available to return to the center.

Itasca State Park

The park is more than just the headwaters, so explore the rest of the park if you’ve got time – you’ve already paid for the day pass! Unfortunately, my wife and I arrived mid-afternoon and were driving back to St. Paul, so we couldn’t spend anymore time.

Finally

For us, it was a side excursion but now we can say We’ve seen the beginning of the Mississippi River! The day was gorgeous, the crowds were manageable, and it was interesting.