Shell River (Minnesota)

Geobox River
name = Shell River
native_name =
other_name =
other_name1 =

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image_size = 300
image_caption = The Shell River in Straight River Township in 2007
country = United States
state = Minnesota
region =
region1 =
district =
district1 =
city =
city1 =
length_imperial = 45.4
length_note = cite web |url= http://iaspub.epa.gov/waters/w305b_report_control.get_report?p_state=MN |title= National Assessment Database: Assessment Data for the State of Minnesota Year 2004. |pages= [http://iaspub.epa.gov/tmdl/w305b_report_V4.huc?p_huc=07010106&p_state=MN Crow Wing Watershed] |publisher= United States Environmental Protection Agency |accessdate= 2007-06-24]
watershed_imperial =
watershed_note =
discharge_location = at mouth
discharge_imperial = 250
discharge_max_imperial =
discharge_min_imperial =
discharge_note = cite book| last= Waters |first= Thomas F. | title= The Streams and Rivers of Minnesota |year= 2006 |publisher= University of Minnesota Press |location=Minneapolis |isbn= 0-8166-0960-8 |pages= pp. 184-194 |chapter= The Crow Wing: Oxcart to Canoe]
discharge1_location =
discharge1_imperial =
source_name = Shell Lake
source_location = Carsonville Township
source_district = Becker County
source_region =
source_lat_d = 46
source_lat_m = 56
source_lat_s = 50
source_lat_NS = N
source_long_d = 95
source_long_m = 24
source_long_s = 39
source_long_EW = W
source_coordinates_note = cite web |url=Gnis3|651945 |title=Geographic Names Information System entry for Shell River (Feature ID #651945) |work=Geographic Names Information System |publisher= United States Geological Survey |accessdate=2007-06-24]
source_elevation_imperial = 1519
source_elevation_note = Google Earth elevation for GNIS coordinates. Retrieved on 2007-06-24.]
mouth_name = Crow Wing River
mouth_location = Crow Wing Lake Township
mouth_district = Hubbard County
mouth_region =
mouth_lat_d = 46
mouth_lat_m = 48
mouth_lat_s = 26
mouth_lat_NS = N
mouth_long_d = 94
mouth_long_m = 53
mouth_long_s = 16
mouth_long_EW = W
mouth_coordinates_note =
mouth_elevation_imperial = 1362
mouth_elevation_note =
tributary_left = Fish Hook River
tributary_left1 =
tributary_right = Blueberry River
tributary_right1 =
free_name =
free_value =


map_size =
map_caption =

The Shell River is a tributary of the Crow Wing River, 45 miles (73 km) long, in north-central Minnesota in the United States. Via the Crow Wing River, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining a rural region.

The river was named for mussel and clam shells found along the river and along Shell Lake, its origin. [cite web |url=http://mnplaces.mnhs.org/upham/index.cfm |title=Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. |accessdate=2007-06-24 |last=Upham |first=Warren |publisher=Minnesota Historical Society |pages= [http://mnplaces.mnhs.org/upham/waterway.cfm?PlaceNameID=8366&BookCodeID=53&County=80&SendingPage=Results.cfm Wadena County: Shell River Township] ]

Geography

The Shell River issues from Shell Lake approximately three miles (5 km) southwest of Pine Point in Carsonville Township in eastern Becker County, and initially flows southeastwardly through the Smoky Hills State Forest into southwestern Hubbard County and northwestern Wadena County, to Blueberry Lake, which collects the Blueberry River. From Blueberry Lake, the Shell River flows eastwardly in a winding course through northern Wadena and southern Hubbard Counties, passing through Huntersville State Forest and collecting the Fish Hook River from the north. It flows into the Crow Wing River in Crow Wing Lake Township in Hubbard County. [cite book| title= Minnesota Atlas & Gazetteer |year=1994 |publisher= DeLorme |location=Yarmouth, Me. |isbn= 0-89933-222-6 |pages= pp. 60-61] The Shell River is the Crow Wing River's first significant tributary, and is substantially the larger of the two at their confluence; the Shell's average discharge of 250 cubic feet per second (7 m³/s) is approximately three times the Crow Wing's discharge above the confluence.

The Shell River flows in the Northern Lakes and Forests ecoregion, which is characterized by conifer and hardwood forests on flat and rolling till plains and outwash plains. [cite web |url= http://www.pca.state.mn.us/water/basins/uppermiss/index.html |title= Upper Mississippi River Basin. |pages= [http://www.pca.state.mn.us/water/basins/uppermiss/bid-section3.pdf Upper Mississippi River Basin Water Quality Plan, Headwaters to the Rum River - Anoka, Section III: Upper Mississippi River Basin] |publisher= Minnesota Pollution Control Agency |year= 2000 |accessdate= 2007-06-17] The lower course of the river below Blueberry Lake can be canoed, and supports a sport fishing population of northern pike. Clams are present in great quantities on the river bottom, and the former community of Shell City in Shell River Township was once the site of a button factory which made use of their shells.

ee also

*List of rivers in Minnesota

References