The Mississippi River is the second longest river in the U.S., and over 30 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces drain into it. ... "The starting point of a river is a bit fuzzy, ...

The Mississippi River's widest point is where it forms Lake Winnibigoshish, near Bena, Minnesota. At its widest point, Lake Winnibigoshish is more than 11 miles across .

Lake Pepin — the largest lake on the Mississippi River, which stretches roughly from Pepin to Bay City, Wisconsin — provides the longest record of ice cover on the river, starting in 1843 ...