Wisconsin River

Wisconsin River
Wisconsin and the Wisconsin River
Location
Country	United States
State	Wisconsin
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Lac Vieux Desert
• elevation	1,683 ft (513 m)
Mouth
• location	Mississippi River near Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin
• coordinates	42°59′22″N 91°09′14″W / 42.98944°N 91.15389°W / 42.98944; -91.15389
Length	420 mi (680 km)
Basin size	12,280 sq mi (31,800 km2)
Discharge
• average	12,000 cu ft/s (340 m3/s) at mouth
Ramsar Wetland
Official name	Lower Wisconsin Riverway
Designated	14 February 2020
Reference no.	2417[1]

The Wisconsin River is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At approximately 430 miles (692 km) long, it is the state's longest river. The river's name was first recorded in 1673 by Jacques Marquette as "Meskousing", which is rooted in the Algonquian languages used by the area's Native American tribes. The river's original meaning is obscure, but French explorers who followed in the wake of Marquette later modified the name to "Ouisconsin", and so it appears on Guillaume de L'Isle's map (Paris, 1718). This was simplified to "Wisconsin" in the early 19th century, before being applied to Wisconsin Territory and finally the state of Wisconsin.

The Wisconsin River originates in the forests of the North Woods Lake District of northern Wisconsin, in Lac Vieux Desert near the border of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It flows south across the glacial plain of central Wisconsin, passing through Wausau, Stevens Point, and Wisconsin Rapids. In southern Wisconsin, it encounters the terminal moraine formed during the last ice age, where it forms the Dells of the Wisconsin River. North of Madison at Portage, the river turns to the west, flowing through Wisconsin's hilly Western Upland and joining the Mississippi approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Prairie du Chien.

The highest waterfall on the river is Grandfather Falls in Lincoln County. It creates the borders between Adams, Juneau, Columbia, Sauk, Dane, Iowa, Richland, Grant, and Crawford Counties.