Crow River

The Crow River is a tributary of the Mississippi River in south-central Minnesota, with a watershed of 2,756 square miles. Its North and South Forks join at Rockford. From there the main stem runs 24.8 miles northeast to the Mississippi, and its course forms the boundary between Wright and Hennepin counties. It flows through Greenfield, Hanover, St. Michael, Otsego and Dayton and enters the Mississippi where Otsego and Dayton meet. The Minnesota DNR manages this reach as the lower part of the Crow River State Water Trail – North Fork. That trail runs about 125 miles from Lake Koronis to the Mississippi at Dayton and was made a state water trail in 1967.

The DNR describes the roughly 40-mile stretch from just above Rockford to the Mississippi as generally the best part of the river for canoeing. Public access along this reach includes the Dayton access near the confluence, the Rockford access, Riverside Park, and carry-in sites in Three Rivers Park District's Lake Rebecca and Crow-Hassan park reserves. Three Rivers asks paddlers at Crow-Hassan to check the river's flow rates.

In a 2012 DNR fish survey, 36 species were caught. Shorthead redhorse and common carp were the most common, and channel catfish were the most common game fish. Walleye are the fish anglers seek most often. The DNR lists the confluence near Dayton and the meeting of the forks near Lake Rebecca as popular fishing spots. In May 1851 the steamboat Governor Ramsey reached Rockford, the farthest upstream any steamboat had traveled on the river.