Snake River

The Snake River is a 104-mile tributary of the St. Croix River in east-central Minnesota. Its headwaters are in southern Aitkin County. The river flows south through Kanabec County and turns east near Mora, following a minor fault line. It enters the St. Croix 13 miles east of Pine City, and along the way it flows through Cross Lake and Pokegama Lake. Its watershed covers about 1,006 square miles in Aitkin, Kanabec, Mille Lacs, Pine and Isanti counties within the St. Croix River Basin. The Knife, Ann and Groundhouse rivers and Rice Creek are its major tributaries.

The Minnesota DNR manages 84 miles of the river, from the McGrath area to the St. Croix, as the Snake River State Water Trail. From north of McGrath to the St. Croix the river drops 440 feet, an average of 5.2 feet per mile, and it ranges from 20 to 250 feet wide. Water levels usually peak in April and can change quickly. At low water the stretch below Cross Lake may not be passable by canoe. Public accesses include Silver Star Road (Aitkin County), County Road 3 and County Road 11 (DNR), the City of Mora access, Bear Creek and Little Walleye Landing. Minnesota requires a license for non-motorized watercraft longer than 10 feet, and boats must be cleaned of aquatic plants and drained before leaving an access.

The DNR lists walleye, northern pike, smallmouth bass, catfish, panfish and lake sturgeon in the river. A North West Company fur post was built near Pine City in 1804, and a reconstruction has operated as a living history museum since 1970. The annual Snake River Canoe Race covers 15 miles, starting from the County Road 3 bridge north of Mora.