Big Fork River

The Big Fork River flows north about 165 miles from Dora Lake in north-central Itasca County to the Rainy River, which forms the Minnesota-Canada border; the confluence is 16 miles west-southwest of International Falls. It takes its name from being the larger of two tributaries of the Rainy River, and the Ojibwe originally called it the Bowstring River. Its watershed covers 1,326,947 acres, land once largely covered by glacial Lake Agassiz, and the river drops 243 feet (1.5 feet per mile) along its course. Bigfork and Big Falls are the only towns on it.

The Minnesota DNR has managed the river as a state water trail since 1963, in two segments: Dora Lake to Highway 6, and Highway 6 to the Rainy River. Most rapids are Class I-II, but Little American Falls (Class III-IV) and Big Falls (Class IV-VI) are portaged by all but the most experienced paddlers. Water levels usually peak in late April and fall in summer, when rapids may become impassable; some are too rocky to run when the Highway 38 bridge gauge in Bigfork reads below four feet. Named accesses include Johnson Landing (carry-in, river mile 67.5), Grunwald Landing and the Big Falls East trailer landing (river mile 53.0) above the falls.

The DNR notes fishing for walleye, northern pike and muskie, and the MPCA lists lake sturgeon and smallmouth bass among the watershed's fish. At the turn of the 20th century, millions of board feet of pine logs were floated down the river to mills in Ontario. Grand Mound, a Laurel burial mound, stands near the river's mouth.