The Red Cedar River in northwestern

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

is a tributary of the Chippewa River. Its name is translation from the

Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

''Miskwaawaakokaan-ziibi'' meaning "Abundant with Red Cedar River." According to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the river flows approximately 100 miles from southwestern Sawyer County to its confluence with the Chippewa southeast of

Dunnville Dunnville is an unincorporated community located near the mouth of the Grand River in Haldimand County, Ontario, Canada near the historic Talbot Trail. It was formerly an incorporated town encompassing the surrounding area with a total populat ...

in southern Dunn County. It drains portions of eight Wisconsin counties: Barron, Chippewa, Dunn,

Polk Polk may refer to: People * James K. Polk, 11th president of the United States * Polk (name), other people with the name Places * Polk (CTA), a train station in Chicago, Illinois * Polk, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Polk, Missou ...

Rusk A rusk is a hard, dry biscuit or a twice-baked bread. It is sometimes used as a teether for babies. In some cultures, rusk is made of cake, rather than bread: this is sometimes referred to as cake rusk. In the UK, the name also refers to a whea ...

St. Croix Saint Croix; nl, Sint-Kruis; french: link=no, Sainte-Croix; Danish and no, Sankt Croix, Taino: ''Ay Ay'' ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincor ...

Sawyer *A sawyer (occupation) is someone who saws wood. *Sawyer, a fallen tree stuck on the bottom of a river, where it constitutes a danger to boating. Places in the United States Communities *Sawyer, Kansas *Sawyer, Kentucky * Sawyer, Michigan * Saw ...

, and

Washburn Washburn (alternatively Wasseburne, Wasseborne, Wasshebourne, Wassheborne, Washbourne, Washburne, Washborne, Washborn, Wasborn, Washbon) is a toponymic surname, probably of Old English origin, with likely Anglo-Norman and Norman-French influen ...

. Important tributaries include the Chetek River and the Hay River. Important settlements along the river's course include Cameron, Rice Lake, Colfax, and Menomonie. Much of the river's course runs through Dunn County, which it nearly bisects from north to south. The Red Cedar flows through Red Cedar Lake and Rice Lake in Barron County (adjacent to the city of Rice Lake), and two reservoirs in central Dunn County:

Tainter Lake Tainter Lake is a small reservoir in north central Dunn County, Wisconsin, on the Red Cedar River at its confluence with the Hay River. The lake was created by a hydroelectric dam (about downstream on the Red Cedar at Cedar Falls. The lake, a ...

and

Lake Menomin Lake Menomin is a reservoir on the Red Cedar River, in Dunn County, Wisconsin, USA. Its name is derived from the Ojibwe name for this lake, ''Manoominikaani-zaaga'igan'' meaning "Abundant with Wild Rice Lake." Along the lake's western and sou ...

. Below the dam that creates Lake Menomin in Menomonie the Red Cedar River is well known for its large walleye population.

References

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"UW-Stout leads Red Cedar River Reinvestment"
Rivers of Barron County, Wisconsin Rivers of Dunn County, Wisconsin Rivers of Wisconsin Rivers of Sawyer County, Wisconsin Rivers of Washburn County, Wisconsin {{Wisconsin-river-stub