Scenic view of autumn forest by Mississippi River, Pere Marquette State Park, Wisconsin, USA - stock photo

The Mississippi River is the chief river of the second-largest drainage system on the North American continent, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. The stream is entirely within the United States (although its drainage basin reaches into Canada), its source is Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota and it flows generally south for 2, 320 miles (3, 730 km) to the Mississippi River Delta in the Gulf of Mexico.