Itasca State Park and the Headwaters of the Mississippi River {Minnesota}

To keep things from being confusing (especially if you follow our real-time adventures on Instagram) – I’m a few weeks behind in blogging, here are some of our adventures from the week of August 9, 2015. 

In between our special days with our family in Bemidji, Minnesota, we took a day and drove about 45 minutes to Itasca State Park to see the famous headwaters of the Mississippi River.

Within the Itasca State Park is the Mary Gibbs Mississippi Headwaters Center a National River interpretive center. It has some great displays with facts about the Mississippi river – including the interesting history of the river.

Just a short walk from the Mary Gibbs Mississippi Headwaters Center are the headwaters of the Mississippi!

Toes in the trickling beginnings of the Mississippi River!

This is the place the Mississippi river starts its 2,552 mile journey all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.  The river here is 18 feet across and about 18 inches deep. By the time it reaches the Gulf of Mexico it will be 1,000 feet across and up to 100 feet deep. A drop of rain here takes 90 days to spill into the ocean!

Crossing on the big rocks at the start of the Mississippi River. 

We kicked off our shoes and walked back-and-forth across the Mighty Mississippi. It was a beautiful day and the cool water felt so good on our feet.

There was plenty of room to run around, a big log to cross the river – which all the kids loved, and we spent about 30 minutes playing in and around the water.

After playing in the water we went on a 2-mile walk on the Schoolcraft Trail (it’s one mile out and one mile back).

I would DEFINITELY recommend making this a destination next time you’re in Northern Minnesota!