Lake Itasca is a small glacial lake, approximately 1.8 square miles in area. It is located in Itasca State Park, in south-eastern Clearwater County, in the Headwaters area of north-central Minnesota, and is notable for being the headwater of the Mississippi River. It has an average depth of 20 to 35 feet and is 1,475 feet (450 m) above sea level.
The primary source of the Mississippi River on the edge of Lake Itasca
Lake Itasca and Elk Lake
Image: View of Lake Itasca, MN, July 2015
Itasca State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, and contains the headwaters of the Mississippi River. The park spans 32,690 acres (132.3 km2) of northern Minnesota, and is located about 21 miles (34 km) north of Park Rapids, Minnesota and 25 miles (40 km) from Bagley, Minnesota. The park is part of Minnesota's Pine Moraines and Outwash Plains Ecological Subsection and is contained within Clearwater, Hubbard, and Becker counties.
The headwaters of the Mississippi River in Itasca State Park
The first bridge (and only log bridge) over the Mississippi, about 25 feet south of its source at Lake Itasca
Old-growth red pine, Itasca State Park
Tourists wade the Mississippi near Lake Itasca in 2007
