The Start of the Mississippi River

The headwaters of the Mississippi River, the third longest river in North America, are at Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, where the river is narrow enough to wade across in rubber boots. From that quiet, reedy spot it travels 2,340 miles to the Gulf of Mexico, draining all or part of 31 states and two Canadian provinces. Mark Twain, who spent years as a steamboat pilot on the lower Mississippi, described the river as the body of the nation and said you could not travel it without learning something about America.

Source: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources