The Upper Mississippi River is today the portion of the Mississippi River upstream of St. Louis, Missouri, United States, at the confluence of its main tributary, the Missouri River. Historically, it may refer to the area above the Arkansas Post, above the confluence of Ohio River, or above Cape Girardeau.
The Upper Mississippi River near Harpers Ferry, Iowa
Upper Mississippi Valley close to Winona, Minnesota and Kings Bluff
Locks and dam 15
Lock and dam 7 with I-90 in the background
The Mississippi River is the primary river, and second-longest river, of the largest drainage basin in the United States. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it flows generally south for 2,340 miles (3,766 km) to the Mississippi River Delta in the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains all or parts of 32 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces between the Rocky and Appalachian mountains. The main stem is entirely within the United States; the total drainage basin is 1,151,000 sq mi (2,980,000 km2), of which only about one percent is in Canada. The Mississippi ranks as the thirteenth-largest river by discharge in the world. The river either borders or passes through the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
The Mississippi River in Iowa
The source of the Mississippi River at Lake Itasca
The first bridge (and only log bridge) over the Mississippi, about 25 feet south of its source at Lake Itasca
Former head of navigation, St. Anthony Falls, Minneapolis, Minnesota