The Dearborn River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately 70 mi (113 km) long, in central

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It rises in the

Lewis and Clark National Forest Lewis and Clark National Forest is located in west central Montana, United States. Spanning , the forest is managed as two separate zones. The eastern sections, under the Jefferson Division, is a mixture of grass and shrublands dotted with "islan ...

, near Scapegoat Mountain in the Lewis and Clark Range of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

at the

continental divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...

, in western Lewis and Clark County. It flows generally southeast through secluded canyons, and joins the Missouri near Craig. It is crossed by the

Dearborn River High Bridge The Dearborn River High Bridge is a Pratt half-deck truss bridge built in 1897, and has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places as it is one of the few bridges of its type left standing in the United States. On a half-deck bridge, ...

, which was constructed in 1897. It is a popular destination for

whitewater rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...

and fly fishing.

Whirling disease ''Myxobolus cerebralis'' is a myxosporean parasite of salmonids (salmon and trout species) that causes whirling disease in farmed salmon and trout and also in wild fish populations. It was first described in rainbow trout in Germany in 1893, ...

has become a significant problem among

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...

in the river. The Dearborn is a Class I river for stream access for recreational purposes from the highway 431 bridge to its confluence with the Missouri river.Stream Access in Montana

Notes

Rivers of Montana Tributaries of the Missouri River Rivers of Cascade County, Montana Rivers of Lewis and Clark County, Montana {{Montana-river-stub

See also

Notes