Root River (Minnesota)

Location of the Root River

Root River in Preston, Minnesota

Template: Infobox River / Obsolete

The Root River flows through the hills in southeastern Minnesota and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. Due to its gentle gradient of 65 centimeters per kilometer between Chatfield and its confluence with the Mississippi in the navigation section 7 it ​​is ideally suited for canoeing.

The South Branch Root River has its origin in the Mower County as an agricultural drainage ditch and then seeps to eventually come to be significantly colder waters in Forestville Mystery Cave State Park near Preston reappear. The cold water creates very good living conditions for trout.

The river is located within a region of Minnesota, called the Driftless Area. This region was not covered during the last ice age, the Wisconsin glaciation of ice.

Fish and other animal species

In the river a number of fish species such as black bass, trout, rock bass, catfish and sunfish live. But the root River ecosystem also provides habitat for a number of bird species. Hawks and bald eagles live in the area, as well as blue herons, turkeys and ducks, as well as numerous species of mammals, such as deer, gray foxes, red foxes, coyotes, raccoons, gray squirrels and badgers.

Activities

The Root River State Trail is an approximately 67 -kilometer route for cycling, walking, skating or cross-country skiing, which begins in Fountain and via Lanesboro, Whalen, Peterson, Rushford to Houston.

Floods

During the flood in the American Midwest in 2007, the river rose to 5.8 m and thus remained barely a foot below the crown of the dike that protects the city of Houston.