The Rush River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed October 5, 2012

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

in western

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 ...

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 just north of

Interstate 94 Interstate 94 (I-94) is an east–west Interstate Highway connecting the Great Lakes and northern Great Plains regions of the United States. Its western terminus is just east of Billings, Montana, at a junction with I-90; its eastern ter ...

in St. Croix County near Baldwin and flows generally southwardly through Pierce County. It ends in

Lake Pepin Lake Pepin is a naturally occurring lake on the Mississippi River on the border between the U.S. states of Minnesota and Wisconsin. It is located in a valley carved by the outflow of an enormous glacial lake at the end of the last Ice Age. The ...

of the Mississippi River, about west of the village of Maiden Rock in Pierce County. The largest tributary is Lost Creek. Three small communities are located on the river: Centerville, Martell, and

El Paso El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...

. While the land near the source is relatively flat, the river soon falls into a steep valley typical of the

Driftless Area The Driftless Area, a topographical and cultural region in the American Midwest, comprises southwestern Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota, northeastern Iowa, and the extreme northwestern corner of Illinois. Never covered by ice during the las ...

, with outcrops of sandstone and limestone. The Rush River is locally known as an excellent

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 ...

stream. It does not hold as many trout as the nearby

Kinnickinnic River Kinnickinnic River may refer to one of two rivers in the U.S. state of Wisconsin: * Kinnickinnic River (Milwaukee River tributary) in southeastern Wisconsin * Kinnickinnic River (St. Croix River tributary) The Kinnickinnic River, called the K ...

, but they are larger in size. This is because it is more of a free-stone stream than the upper Kinnickinnic, with slightly warmer water, which produces larger food sources for the trout. The warmer water of some stretches also affects the fish species found in the river. Immediately upstream from the bridge on the south side of Martell, it is predominantly trout. Immediately south of the bridge, it is predominantly suckers. The last few miles of the stream holds an increasing proportion of medium-temperature riverine species, such as smallmouth bass. The

delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also ...

of the Rush River is a State Natural Area, designated in 1986. The heavily wooded

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

provides an ideal location for

waterfowl Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which in ...

.WDNR - Rush River Delta State Natural Area
/ref>

References

See also