Cannon River (Minnesota)

The Cannon River flows 112 miles (180 km) from Lake Tetonka near Waterville, Minnesota to Red Wing in the U.S. state of Minnesota, where it joins the Mississippi River. It drains a watershed approximately 1460 square miles (3,780 km²) in size.

The Cannon River has few rapids, but some can be difficult (Class II). Some have claimed lives, as has the confluence with the Little Cannon River in Cannon Falls. Canoes traversing the river must portage several dams; the low header dams are more dangerous than they appear to novices. Downed trees and logjams are extreme hazards in high water, as are low bridges. The river varies in width from 50 to 200 feet (15 to 60 m).

Stream flow usually peaks in early April. Very heavy rains can cause the river to flood. The dam at Lake Byllesby, does not affect water levels and canoeing downstream, because it maintains instantaneous flow-through. From Faribault, Minnesota to its mouth, the Cannon, a designated Minnesota Wild and Scenic River falls 280 feet (85 m), an average of 4.8 feet/mile (1 m/km). In its upper course, the river flows through the lake region of western Rice County. The chief tributary of the Cannon River is the Straight River, which enters the Cannon in Faribault. The Straight River is an important and scenic river in its own right. It originates in southern Steele County at Oak Glen Lake near Bixby.

Bounded by rolling hills, bluffs, farmland, and woods in its upper reaches, dammed by H.M. Byllesby in 1910 for hydroelectric power to create Lake Byllesby Reservoir, the Cannon enters a broad gorge below Cannon Falls, where it is flanked by bluffs up to 300 feet (100 m) high. The Cannon River is underlaid with a variety of sedimentary rocks. The river valley was created by cutting through these rocks produced rock outcrops of St. Peter Sandstone, the Prairie du Chien Group of dolomites and sandstone, and near the river's mouth, Jordan Sandstone and the St. Lawrence and Franconia formations.

...
Wikipedia