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Thursday, September 7, 2017

Mississippi Headwaters State Forest


We crossed the Mississippi River near Bemidji, Minnesota on Beltrami County Road 7 at a location named Iron Bridge for the previous bridge that spanned the stream until its removal in 1984. The current bridge was built in 1980. The road passes through the Mississippi Headwaters State Forest for several miles. The forest is considered one of the most pristine areas along the entire river. It is 1300.6 river miles from here to the mouth of the Ohio River at Cairo, Illinois and 41.3 river miles upstream to the headwaters at Lake Itasca.

The fire hydrant sign is posted to signify a snorkel is attached to the bridge so fire pumper-trucks can quickly refill directly from the river. We passed through the state forest in early August 2017.

View upstream

Mississippi River bridge

Main channel looking downstream

A river of grass in Minnesota

Entry to the forest is free.

The forest website is http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_forests/sft00034/index.html.

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