Mississippi River Headwaters Live Cam

Visitors cross the Mississippi on stepping stones at the point where it leaves Lake Itasca, a few paces from bank to bank. A timber marker post stands at the outlet behind them.

The river runs 2,552 miles from here to the Gulf of Mexico, and it begins by going north: it heads for Bemidji before turning east and then south through the lake country. At this point it is ankle deep and about five metres across.

Itasca became the first state park in Minnesota in 1891 and still holds stands of old red pine. The live stream is provided by a local telephone cooperative, and the crossing is busy from morning to dusk through the summer.