List of Illinois rivers - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Gulf of Mexico

Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
- Ohio River
  Ohio River
  The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
  - Lusk Creek
    Lusk Creek
    Lusk Creek is a creek located in southeastern Illinois. It is a tributary of the Ohio River, which it joins at Golconda.Lusk Creek flows through the Lusk Creek Canyon, which is perhaps the wildest place in Illinois. Only a single bridge crosses the creek. The watershed is almost entirely within the...
  - Saline River
    Saline River (Illinois)
    The Saline River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately long, in the Southern Illinois region of the U.S. state of Illinois. The river drains a large section of southeast Illinois, with a drainage basin of . The major tributaries include the South Fork, Middle Fork and North Fork, all...
  - Wabash River
    Wabash River
    The Wabash River is a river in the Midwestern United States that flows southwest from northwest Ohio near Fort Recovery across northern Indiana to southern Illinois, where it forms the Illinois-Indiana border before draining into the Ohio River, of which it is the largest northern tributary...
    - Little Wabash River
      Little Wabash River
      The Little Wabash River is a tributary of the Wabash River in east-central and southeastern Illinois in the United States. Via the Wabash and Ohio rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River.-Course:...
      - Skillet Fork
        Skillet Fork
        Skillet Fork is a river in southern Illinois in the United States. It is a tributary of the Little Wabash River; via the Little Wabash, Wabash and Ohio rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River....
      - Elm River
        Elm River (Illinois)
        The Elm River is a tributary of the Little Wabash River in southeastern Illinois in the United States. Via the Little Wabash, Wabash and Ohio rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River.The Elm flows for its entire length in Wayne County...
      - Fox River
        Fox River (Little Wabash tributary)
        The Fox River is a tributary of the Little Wabash River in southern Illinois. It rises in Jasper County to the southeast of Newton and flows south past Olney, then joins the Little Wabash at the northeast corner of Edwards County, near Mt. Erie...
      - Salt Creek
        Salt Creek (Little Wabash River Tributary)
        Salt Creek is a tributary of the Little Wabash River, which it joins near Edgewood, Illinois, near the boundary between Effingham and Clay counties...
    - Bonpas Creek
      Bonpas Creek
      Bonpas Creek is a tributary of the Wabash River in Illinois. It joins the Wabash near Grayville, Illinois. In the last of its watercourse, it occupies part of a former Wabash oxbow bend....
    - Embarras River
      Embarras River
      The Embarras River is a tributary of the Wabash River in southeastern Illinois in the United States. The waters of the Embarras reach the Gulf of Mexico via the Wabash, Ohio, and Mississippi rivers. The river drains a watershed of approximately in an agricultural region...
      - North Fork Embarras River
        North Fork Embarras River
        The North Fork Embarras River is a stream which originates in Edgar County, Illinois, and flows through Clark, Crawford and Jasper counties. Its confluence with the Embarras River is located near the town of Ste. Marie in Jasper County. It is a major tributary to the Embarras River...
      - Little Embarras River
    - Little Vermilion River
    - Vermilion River
      Vermilion River (Wabash River tributary)
      The Vermilion River is a tributary of the Wabash River in the states of Illinois and Indiana, United States.There are two "Vermilion Rivers" in Illinois. The Wabash tributary flows south, while the other Vermilion River flows north to the Illinois River...
      - Middle Fork Vermilion River
        Middle Fork Vermilion River
        The Middle Fork of the Vermilion River is a tributary of the Vermilion River in Illinois. The Middle Fork rises in Ford County and flows southeast to join the Vermilion near Danville....
      - Salt Fork Vermilion River
        Salt Fork Vermilion River
        The Salt Fork is a tributary of the Vermilion River located in Illinois.The Salt Fork owes its name to saline springs that provided natural salt licks for animals, and which were used for production of salt by Native Americans and early settlers. The springs were located about eight miles west of...
        
        Saline Branch
        
        Boneyard Creek
        Boneyard Creek
        Boneyard Creek is a waterway that drains much of the cities of Champaign and Urbana, Illinois. It is a tributary of the Saline Branch of the Salt Fork Vermilion River, which is a tributary of the south-flowing Vermilion River and the Wabash River. The creek flows through the northern sections of...
- Cache River
  Cache River (Illinois)
  The Cache River is a waterway in southernmost Illinois, in a region sometimes called Little Egypt. The basin spans and six counties: Alexander, Johnson, Massac, Pope, Pulaski and Union. Located at the convergence of four major physiographic regions, the river is part of the largest complex of...
  - Cypress Creek
    Cypress Creek National Wildlife Refuge
    The Cypress Creek National Wildlife Refuge is located in the Cache River watershed in southernmost Illinois, largely in Pulaski County, but with extensions into Union, Alexander, and Johnson counties. The refuge was established in 1990 under the authority of the Emergency Wetlands Resource Act of...
- Big Muddy River
  Big Muddy River
  The Big Muddy River is a river in southern Illinois. It joins the Mississippi River south of Murphysboro. The Big Muddy has been dammed near Benton, forming Rend Lake.The Big Muddy has a mud bottom for most of its length.-Hydrography:...
  - Beaucoup Creek
    Beaucoup Creek
    Beaucoup Creek is a major tributary of the Big Muddy River in Illinois. The name is pronounced locally as in "Ba Cou".Beaucoup Creek is in length.-Cities and counties:The following cities are in the Beaucoup Creek watershed:*Pinckneyville*Vergennes...
  - Little Muddy River
    Little Muddy River (Illinois)
    The Little Muddy River is a tributary of the Big Muddy River in Illinois. It forms the boundary between Franklin and Perry counties.-Cities and counties:The following cities and towns are drained by the Little Muddy:*Ashley*DuQuoin*Radom...
  - Casey Creek (Casey Fork)
- Marys River
  Marys River (Illinois)
  Marys River is a tributary of the Mississippi River in Illinois. It drains a small watershed between the Big Muddy River and the Kaskaskia River. It joins the Mississippi just southeast of Chester, near Kaskaskia...
  - Little Marys River
    Little Marys River (Illinois)
    The Little Marys River is a tributary of the Marys River. It is located in Randolph County, Illinois.-External links:*...
- Kaskaskia River
  Kaskaskia River
  The Kaskaskia River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately long, in central and southern Illinois in the United States. The second largest river system within Illinois, it drains a rural area of farms, as well as rolling hills along river bottoms of hardwood forests in its lower...
  - Shoal Creek
    Shoal Creek (Illinois)
    Shoal Creek is a watercourse in the U.S. state of Illinois. It rises near Harvel, Illinois and, flowing southward through Lake Lou Yaeger, discharges into the Kaskaskia River near Okawville. It drains parts of Montgomery County, Bond County, and Clinton County. Shoal Creek is named for the many...
  - West Okaw River
    West Okaw River
    thumb|rightThe West Okaw River is a tributary of the Kaskaskia River, which it joins in Moultrie County, Illinois. The West Okaw forms an arm of Lake Shelbyville where the natural rivers used to meet....
- Palmer Creek
- Wood River
  Wood River (Illinois)
  Wood River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, which it joins near East Alton, Illinois, to the northeast of St. Louis, Missouri.The Wood River is formed by the confluence of its West and East forks. These come together near where they drop down from the Mississippi bluffs. The natural...
- Illinois River
  Illinois River
  The Illinois River is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately long, in the State of Illinois. The river drains a large section of central Illinois, with a drainage basin of . This river was important among Native Americans and early French traders as the principal water route...
  - Macoupin Creek
    Macoupin Creek
    Macoupin Creek is a tributary of the Illinois River, which it joins near the village of Hardin, Illinois.The word macoupin refers to the yellow pond lily , a native plant of the regional wetlands, and a favorite food source of local Indians. It has a large rootstock that was baked in a fire pit...
  - La Moine River
    La Moine River
    La Moine River is a tributary of the Illinois River in western Illinois in the United States. Its watershed covers approximately , and it is the sixth-largest tributary to the Illinois River...
  - Sangamon River
    Sangamon River
    The Sangamon River is a principal tributary of the Illinois River, approximately long, in central Illinois in the United States. It drains a mostly rural agricultural area between Peoria and Springfield...
    - Salt Creek
      Salt Creek (Sangamon River Tributary)
      Salt Creek is a major tributary to the Sangamon River, which it joins at the boundary between Mason and Menard County, Illinois. There are at least two other Salt Creeks in Illinois, Salt Creek , and in Effingham County, Illinois....
    - Sugar Creek
      Sugar Creek (Sangamon River tributary)
      Sugar Creek, a tributary of the Sangamon River, is a large creek in central Illinois. It rises in Talkington Township in southwestern Sangamon County, flows briefly through northeastern Macoupin County, and then runs northeastward through south-central Sangamon County before discharging into Lake...
      - Lick Creek
        Lick Creek (Sangamon River tributary)
        Lick Creek is a tributary of Lake Springfield and, thus, a tributary of the Sangamon River in central Illinois. It drains a large portion of southwestern Sangamon County and a marginal adjacent fragment of southeastern Morgan County. The drainage of Lick Creek includes all of Loami, Illinois and...
  - Spoon River
    Spoon River
    The Spoon River is a tributary of the Illinois River in west-central Illinois in the United States. The river drains largely agricultural prairie country between Peoria and Galesburg...
  - Mackinaw River
    Mackinaw River
    The Mackinaw River, also called Mackinac River, is a river in the U.S. state of Illinois. It flows through what was once the Grande Prairie region of central Illinois...
    - Little Mackinaw River
      Little Mackinaw River
      The Little Mackinaw River is a tributary of the Mackinaw River, which it joins at near Hopedale in Tazewell County, Illinois.The Little Mackinaw is about in length...
    - Panther Creek
      - Red River
        Red River (Illinois)
        The Red River is a tributary of Panther Creek in Woodford County, Illinois. Its headwaters are located southeast of Eureka, and after draining several townships it flows into Panther Creek in Palestine Township. Soon afterwards, Panther Creek itself flows into the Mackinaw River near Congerville...
  - Big Bureau Creek
    Big Bureau Creek
    The Big Bureau Creek is a tributary of the Illinois River in central Illinois. It rises approximately north of Mendota and flows southwest into Bureau County, turning south at Princeton and then flowing east into the Illinois River floodplain...
  - Little Vermilion River
    Little Vermilion River (Illinois River tributary)
    The Little Vermilion River is a tributary of the Illinois River, which it joins near LaSalle, Illinois, opposite the north-flowing Vermilion River. There is another "Little Vermilion River" in Illinois which is a tributary of the Wabash River.-External links:...
  - Vermilion River
    Vermilion River (Illinois River tributary)
    The Vermilion River is a tributary of the Illinois River in the state of Illinois, United States. The river flows north, in contrast to a second Vermilion River in Illinois, which flows south to the Wabash River...
  - Fox River
    Fox River (Illinois River tributary)
    The Fox River is a tributary of the Illinois River in the states of Wisconsin and Illinois in the United States. There are two other "Fox Rivers" in southern Illinois: the Fox River and a smaller "Fox River" that joins the Wabash River near New Harmony, Indiana.-Wisconsin:The Fox River rises near...
    - Indian Creek
      Indian Creek (Fox River)
      Indian Creek, also known as Big Indian Creek, is a tributary of the Fox River in Lee, LaSalle, and DeKalb counties in Illinois.-Course:...
    - Somonauk Creek
      Somonauk Creek
      Somonauk Creek is a tributary of the Fox River, which it joins near Sheridan, Illinois. Somonauk Creek is approximately in length, and its source is north of Waterman...
  - Mazon River
    Mazon River
    The Mazon River or "Mazon Creek", is a tributary of the Illinois River in the United States. The confluence is near Morris, Illinois.The Mazon River is associated with the Mazon Creek fossils of the Francis Creek Shale, which are also exposed in strip mines and quarries near the River...
  - Des Plaines River
    Des Plaines River
    The Des Plaines River is a river that flows southward for through southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois in the U.S. Midwest, eventually meeting the Kankakee River west of Channahon to form the Illinois River, a tributary of the Mississippi River....
    - DuPage River
      DuPage River
      The DuPage River is a tributary of the Des Plaines River in the U.S. state of Illinois.-Course:The river begins as two individual streams. The West Branch of the DuPage River, long, starts in Schaumburg at Campanelli Park in Cook County and continues southward through the entire county of DuPage,...
    - Salt Creek
      Salt Creek (Des Plaines River Tributary)
      Salt Creek is a stream in northeastern Illinois. It is an important tributary of the Des Plaines River, part of the Illinois River and ultimately the Mississippi River watersheds...
      - Addison Creek
        Addison Creek (Salt Creek Tributary)
        Addison Creek is a stream in the northeastern portion of the U.S. state of Illinois. It is a tributary of Salt Creek. Addison Creek originates in Bensenville and runs south and east through Northlake, Maywood, Bellwood, and Westchester. Water from the creek flows via Salt Creek, the Des Plaines...
    - Buffalo Creek
      Buffalo Creek (Illinois)
      Buffalo Creek is an tributary of the Des Plaines River. It begins in Lake Zurich, Illinois and flows mainly south-eastward through Kildeer, Long Grove, Buffalo Grove and Wheeling. In Wheeling, it is named Wheeling Drainage Ditch...
  - Kankakee River
    Kankakee River
    The Kankakee River is a tributary of the Illinois River, approximately long, in northwestern Indiana and northeastern Illinois in the United States. At one time the river drained one of the largest wetlands in North America and furnished a significant portage between the Great Lakes and the...
    - Rock Creek
    - Iroquois River
      Iroquois River
      The Iroquois River is a tributary of the Kankakee River in northwestern Indiana and northeastern Illinois in the United States. Via the Kankakee and Illinois rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River.-Course:...
- Henderson Creek
  Henderson Creek (Illinois)
  Henderson Creek is a tributary of the Mississippi River, which it joins in Henderson County, Illinois, near the villages of Gladstone and Oquawka....
- Edwards River
  Edwards River (Illinois)
  The Edwards River is a tributary of the Mississippi River in northwestern Illinois in the United States. It rises west of Kewanee in southeastern Henry County and flows generally westwardly into Mercer County, where it joins the Mississippi southeast of New Boston...
- Rock River
  - Green River
    Green River (Illinois)
    The Green River is an tributary of the Rock River in northwestern Illinois in the United States. Via the Rock, it is part of the Mississippi River watershed. Much of the Green's course has been straightened and channelized.-Course:...
  - Pine Creek
  - Kyte River
    Kyte River
    The Kyte River is a tributary of the Rock River, about long, in northern Illinois in the United States. It is sometimes known locally as "Kyte Creek". Via the Rock River, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River....
  - Leaf River
    Leaf River (Illinois)
    The Leaf River is a tributary of the Rock River, about long, in northwestern Illinois in the United States. Via the Rock, it is part of the Mississippi River watershed.-Course:...
  - Stillman Creek
    Stillman Creek (Illinois)
    Stillman Creek, also known during different eras as Mud Creek, Old Man's Creek, Sycamore Creek, and Stillman's Run, is part of the Rock River watershed, and located in Ogle County, Illinois, United States...
  - Kishwaukee River
    Kishwaukee River
    The Kishwaukee River, sometimes locally known as simply "The Kish", is a river in the U.S. state of Illinois. "The Kish" is famous for its high number of bridges that cross within its 100-year floodplain.-Location:...
    - Killbuck Creek
      Killbuck Creek (Kishwaukee River)
      Killbuck Creek is a tributary of the Kishwaukee River in northern Illinois, United States.-Course:The creek runs north through southeastern Ogle County, where it cuts through Galena limestone and blue limestone. The Killbuck passes through Pine Rock Township, where a stone quarry was once located...
    - South Branch Kishwaukee River
      South Branch Kishwaukee River
      The South Branch Kishwaukee River is a tributary of the Kishwaukee River in northern Illinois. The South Branch is the main branch of the Kishwaukee River, joining it above its confluence with the Rock River...
      - Owens Creek
        Owens Creek (Kishwaukee River)
        Owens Creek is a stream in the Kishwaukee River watershed in northern Illinois. It is a tributary of the South Branch Kishwaukee River.-Course:...
      - East Branch South Branch Kishwaukee River
        East Branch South Branch Kishwaukee River
        East Branch South Branch Kishwaukee River, in northern Illinois, is a tributary of the Kishwaukee River, by way of the South Branch Kishwaukee River....
    - Beaver Creek
      Beaver Creek (Kishwaukee River)
      Beaver Creek is a tributary of the Kishwaukee River in northern Illinois.-Course:Beaver Creek flows through central Boone County, Illinois, where the Beaver Creek network generally flows northeast to southwest...
    - Piscasaw Creek
      Piscasaw Creek
      Piscasaw Creek is a tributary of the Kishwaukee River in Wisconsin and Illinois. Rising in Walworth County, Wisconsin, it passes through McHenry County, Illinois before discharging into the Kishwaukee in Boone County, Illinois...
      - Mokeler Creek
        Mokeler Creek
        Mokeler Creek is a tributary of Piscasaw Creek, itself a tributary of the Kishwaukee River, in northern Illinois.-Course:Mokeler Creek originates in farm fields between Crowley Road and Oak Grove Road, about northeast of Harvard, Illinois. It then flows directly through the city of Harvard...
    - Coon Creek
      Coon Creek (Kishwaukee River)
      Coon Creek is a tributary of the Kishwaukee River in northern Illinois.-Course:Coon Creek flows north from DeKalb County, Illinois into McHenry County. The stream continues flowing northwest from the DeKalb County-McHenry County line until it empties into the Kishwaukee River in Boone County...
    - Rush Creek
      Rush Creek (Kishwaukee River)
      Rush Creek is a tributary of the Kishwaukee River in northern Illinois.-Course:Rush Creek's origin is in a complex of wetlands near Harvard, Illinois, two miles southeast...
    - North Branch Kishwaukee River
      North Branch Kishwaukee River
      The North Branch Kishwaukee River is a tributary of the Kishwaukee River in northern Illinois.-Course:The North Branch Kishwaukee River northeast of Harvard, Illinois and flows south through McHenry County. to join the Kishwaukee River east of Marengo...
  - Pecatonica River
    Pecatonica River
    The Pecatonica River is a tributary of the Rock River, long, in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois in the United States.The word Pecatonica is an anglicization of two Algonquian language words: Bekaa , which means "slow", and niba, which means "water", forming the conjunction Bekaaniba or...
    - Sugar River
      Sugar River (Wisconsin)
      The Sugar River is a tributary of the Pecatonica River, approximately long, in the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Illinois.It rises in the hills of southwest Wisconsin, in southwest Dane County, approximately southwest of Madison. The headwaters are at the southern terminus of the last North...
    - Yellow Creek
      Yellow Creek (Illinois)
      Yellow Creek is a tributary of the Pecatonica River in Stephenson County, in the U.S. state of Illinois. The 50 mile stream also flows through a small part of Jo Daviess County...
- Plum River
  Plum River
  The Plum River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, about long, in northwestern Illinois in the United States. It rises in Jo Daviess County and flows generally south-southwestwardly into Carroll County, where it joins the Mississippi at Savanna...
- Apple River
  Apple River (Illinois)
  The Apple River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, about long, in southwestern Wisconsin and northwestern Illinois in the United States. It rises in Lafayette County, Wisconsin, and flows for most of its length in Illinois, through Jo Daviess and Carroll Counties. Along its course it...
- Galena River
  Galena River (Illinois)
  The Galena River, also known as the Fevre or Fever River, is a river which flows through the Midwestern United States.- Geography :...
- Sinsinawa River
  Sinsinawa River
  The Sinsinawa River is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It rises in Grant County, Wisconsin, with headwaters just outside of Cuba City, flowing southwards into Jo Daviess County, Illinois, joining the Mississippi a few miles west of Galena....
- Little Menominee River
  Little Menominee River
  The Little Menominee River is a tributary of the Upper Mississippi River, which it joins in Jo Daviess County, Illinois.The Little Menominee rises in Grant County, Wisconsin. It flows south, to the east of the Menominee River, into Illinois. It crosses the northwestern corner of Illinois for about...
- Menominee River
  Menominee River (Illinois)
  The Menominee River is an tributary of the Mississippi River, which it joins in Jo Daviess County, Illinois. There is also a Menominee River in northeastern Wisconsin and Michigan, and a Menomonee River that flows through metro Milwaukee....

Gulf of St. Lawrence

Lake Michigan
- Chicago River
  Chicago River
  The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of the same name, including its center . Though not especially long, the river is notable for being the reason why Chicago became an important location, as the link between the Great Lakes and...
  - North Branch Chicago River
    - Skokie River
      Skokie River
      The Skokie River is a river that flows through the northern suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. It flows almost parallel to the shore of Lake Michigan, and historically discharged its outflow into that lake via the Chicago River...
  - South Branch Chicago River
    - Bubbly Creek
      Bubbly Creek
      Bubbly Creek is the nickname given to the South Fork of the Chicago River's South Branch, which runs entirely within the city of Chicago, Illinois. Gases bubbling out of the riverbed from the decomposition of blood and entrails dumped into the river by the local stockyards in the early 20th...
      
      (South Fork South Branch Chicago River)
- Calumet River
  Calumet River
  The Calumet River refers to a system of heavily industrialized rivers and canals in the region between the neighborhood of South Chicago in Chicago, Illinois, and the city of Gary, Indiana.-Background:...
  - Grand Calumet River
  - Little Calumet River
    - Thorn Creek
      Thorn Creek
      Thorn Creek is a tributary of the Little Calumet River that travels through Will and Cook counties in northeastern Illinois just south of Chicago. It starts in the high land of the Valparaiso Moraine before dropping to the lower elevations of the Little Calumet River valley. Along its path it has...
      - Butterfield Creek
        Butterfield Creek
        Butterfield Creek is a tributary of Thorn Creek near Chicago, Illinois, United States. Via Thorn Creek, it is part of the Calumet River watershed flowing to Lake Michigan. It is at its widest around the towns of Homewood, Chicago Heights and Glenwood...

Alphabetically

Addison Creek
Addison Creek (Salt Creek Tributary)
Addison Creek is a stream in the northeastern portion of the U.S. state of Illinois. It is a tributary of Salt Creek. Addison Creek originates in Bensenville and runs south and east through Northlake, Maywood, Bellwood, and Westchester. Water from the creek flows via Salt Creek, the Des Plaines...
Apple River
Apple River (Illinois)
The Apple River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, about long, in southwestern Wisconsin and northwestern Illinois in the United States. It rises in Lafayette County, Wisconsin, and flows for most of its length in Illinois, through Jo Daviess and Carroll Counties. Along its course it...
Beaucoup Creek
Beaucoup Creek
Beaucoup Creek is a major tributary of the Big Muddy River in Illinois. The name is pronounced locally as in "Ba Cou".Beaucoup Creek is in length.-Cities and counties:The following cities are in the Beaucoup Creek watershed:*Pinckneyville*Vergennes...
Beaver Creek
Beaver Creek (Kishwaukee River)
Beaver Creek is a tributary of the Kishwaukee River in northern Illinois.-Course:Beaver Creek flows through central Boone County, Illinois, where the Beaver Creek network generally flows northeast to southwest...
Big Bureau Creek
Big Bureau Creek
The Big Bureau Creek is a tributary of the Illinois River in central Illinois. It rises approximately north of Mendota and flows southwest into Bureau County, turning south at Princeton and then flowing east into the Illinois River floodplain...
Big Muddy River
Big Muddy River
The Big Muddy River is a river in southern Illinois. It joins the Mississippi River south of Murphysboro. The Big Muddy has been dammed near Benton, forming Rend Lake.The Big Muddy has a mud bottom for most of its length.-Hydrography:...
Boneyard Creek
Boneyard Creek
Boneyard Creek is a waterway that drains much of the cities of Champaign and Urbana, Illinois. It is a tributary of the Saline Branch of the Salt Fork Vermilion River, which is a tributary of the south-flowing Vermilion River and the Wabash River. The creek flows through the northern sections of...
Bonpas Creek
Bonpas Creek
Bonpas Creek is a tributary of the Wabash River in Illinois. It joins the Wabash near Grayville, Illinois. In the last of its watercourse, it occupies part of a former Wabash oxbow bend....
Bubbly Creek
Bubbly Creek
Bubbly Creek is the nickname given to the South Fork of the Chicago River's South Branch, which runs entirely within the city of Chicago, Illinois. Gases bubbling out of the riverbed from the decomposition of blood and entrails dumped into the river by the local stockyards in the early 20th...
Buffalo Creek
Buffalo Creek (Illinois)
Buffalo Creek is an tributary of the Des Plaines River. It begins in Lake Zurich, Illinois and flows mainly south-eastward through Kildeer, Long Grove, Buffalo Grove and Wheeling. In Wheeling, it is named Wheeling Drainage Ditch...
Butterfield Creek
Butterfield Creek
Butterfield Creek is a tributary of Thorn Creek near Chicago, Illinois, United States. Via Thorn Creek, it is part of the Calumet River watershed flowing to Lake Michigan. It is at its widest around the towns of Homewood, Chicago Heights and Glenwood...
Cache River
Cache River (Illinois)
The Cache River is a waterway in southernmost Illinois, in a region sometimes called Little Egypt. The basin spans and six counties: Alexander, Johnson, Massac, Pope, Pulaski and Union. Located at the convergence of four major physiographic regions, the river is part of the largest complex of...
Calumet River
Calumet River
The Calumet River refers to a system of heavily industrialized rivers and canals in the region between the neighborhood of South Chicago in Chicago, Illinois, and the city of Gary, Indiana.-Background:...
Casey Creek, also known as Casey Fork
Chicago River
Chicago River
The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of the same name, including its center . Though not especially long, the river is notable for being the reason why Chicago became an important location, as the link between the Great Lakes and...
Coon Creek
Coon Creek (Kishwaukee River)
Coon Creek is a tributary of the Kishwaukee River in northern Illinois.-Course:Coon Creek flows north from DeKalb County, Illinois into McHenry County. The stream continues flowing northwest from the DeKalb County-McHenry County line until it empties into the Kishwaukee River in Boone County...
Cypress Creek
Cypress Creek National Wildlife Refuge
The Cypress Creek National Wildlife Refuge is located in the Cache River watershed in southernmost Illinois, largely in Pulaski County, but with extensions into Union, Alexander, and Johnson counties. The refuge was established in 1990 under the authority of the Emergency Wetlands Resource Act of...
Des Plaines River
Des Plaines River
The Des Plaines River is a river that flows southward for through southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois in the U.S. Midwest, eventually meeting the Kankakee River west of Channahon to form the Illinois River, a tributary of the Mississippi River....
DuPage River
DuPage River
The DuPage River is a tributary of the Des Plaines River in the U.S. state of Illinois.-Course:The river begins as two individual streams. The West Branch of the DuPage River, long, starts in Schaumburg at Campanelli Park in Cook County and continues southward through the entire county of DuPage,...
East Branch South Branch Kishwaukee River
East Branch South Branch Kishwaukee River
East Branch South Branch Kishwaukee River, in northern Illinois, is a tributary of the Kishwaukee River, by way of the South Branch Kishwaukee River....
Edwards River
Edwards River (Illinois)
The Edwards River is a tributary of the Mississippi River in northwestern Illinois in the United States. It rises west of Kewanee in southeastern Henry County and flows generally westwardly into Mercer County, where it joins the Mississippi southeast of New Boston...
Elm River
Elm River (Illinois)
The Elm River is a tributary of the Little Wabash River in southeastern Illinois in the United States. Via the Little Wabash, Wabash and Ohio rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River.The Elm flows for its entire length in Wayne County...
Embarras River
Embarras River
The Embarras River is a tributary of the Wabash River in southeastern Illinois in the United States. The waters of the Embarras reach the Gulf of Mexico via the Wabash, Ohio, and Mississippi rivers. The river drains a watershed of approximately in an agricultural region...
Fox River (Illinois River tributary)
Fox River (Illinois River tributary)
The Fox River is a tributary of the Illinois River in the states of Wisconsin and Illinois in the United States. There are two other "Fox Rivers" in southern Illinois: the Fox River and a smaller "Fox River" that joins the Wabash River near New Harmony, Indiana.-Wisconsin:The Fox River rises near...

, northern Illinois
Fox River (Little Wabash tributary)
Fox River (Little Wabash tributary)
The Fox River is a tributary of the Little Wabash River in southern Illinois. It rises in Jasper County to the southeast of Newton and flows south past Olney, then joins the Little Wabash at the northeast corner of Edwards County, near Mt. Erie...

, southern Illinois
Galena River
Galena River (Illinois)
The Galena River, also known as the Fevre or Fever River, is a river which flows through the Midwestern United States.- Geography :...
Grand Calumet River
Calumet River
The Calumet River refers to a system of heavily industrialized rivers and canals in the region between the neighborhood of South Chicago in Chicago, Illinois, and the city of Gary, Indiana.-Background:...
Green River
Green River (Illinois)
The Green River is an tributary of the Rock River in northwestern Illinois in the United States. Via the Rock, it is part of the Mississippi River watershed. Much of the Green's course has been straightened and channelized.-Course:...
Henderson Creek
Henderson Creek (Illinois)
Henderson Creek is a tributary of the Mississippi River, which it joins in Henderson County, Illinois, near the villages of Gladstone and Oquawka....
Illinois River
Illinois River
The Illinois River is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately long, in the State of Illinois. The river drains a large section of central Illinois, with a drainage basin of . This river was important among Native Americans and early French traders as the principal water route...
Indian Creek
Indian Creek (Fox River)
Indian Creek, also known as Big Indian Creek, is a tributary of the Fox River in Lee, LaSalle, and DeKalb counties in Illinois.-Course:...
Iroquois River
Iroquois River
The Iroquois River is a tributary of the Kankakee River in northwestern Indiana and northeastern Illinois in the United States. Via the Kankakee and Illinois rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River.-Course:...
Kankakee River
Kankakee River
The Kankakee River is a tributary of the Illinois River, approximately long, in northwestern Indiana and northeastern Illinois in the United States. At one time the river drained one of the largest wetlands in North America and furnished a significant portage between the Great Lakes and the...
Kaskaskia River
Kaskaskia River
The Kaskaskia River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately long, in central and southern Illinois in the United States. The second largest river system within Illinois, it drains a rural area of farms, as well as rolling hills along river bottoms of hardwood forests in its lower...
Killbuck Creek
Killbuck Creek (Kishwaukee River)
Killbuck Creek is a tributary of the Kishwaukee River in northern Illinois, United States.-Course:The creek runs north through southeastern Ogle County, where it cuts through Galena limestone and blue limestone. The Killbuck passes through Pine Rock Township, where a stone quarry was once located...
Kishwaukee River
Kishwaukee River
The Kishwaukee River, sometimes locally known as simply "The Kish", is a river in the U.S. state of Illinois. "The Kish" is famous for its high number of bridges that cross within its 100-year floodplain.-Location:...
Kyte River
Kyte River
The Kyte River is a tributary of the Rock River, about long, in northern Illinois in the United States. It is sometimes known locally as "Kyte Creek". Via the Rock River, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River....
La Moine River
La Moine River
La Moine River is a tributary of the Illinois River in western Illinois in the United States. Its watershed covers approximately , and it is the sixth-largest tributary to the Illinois River...
Leaf River
Leaf River (Illinois)
The Leaf River is a tributary of the Rock River, about long, in northwestern Illinois in the United States. Via the Rock, it is part of the Mississippi River watershed.-Course:...
Lick Creek
Lick Creek (Sangamon River tributary)
Lick Creek is a tributary of Lake Springfield and, thus, a tributary of the Sangamon River in central Illinois. It drains a large portion of southwestern Sangamon County and a marginal adjacent fragment of southeastern Morgan County. The drainage of Lick Creek includes all of Loami, Illinois and...
Little Calumet River
Calumet River
The Calumet River refers to a system of heavily industrialized rivers and canals in the region between the neighborhood of South Chicago in Chicago, Illinois, and the city of Gary, Indiana.-Background:...
Little Embarras River
Embarras River
The Embarras River is a tributary of the Wabash River in southeastern Illinois in the United States. The waters of the Embarras reach the Gulf of Mexico via the Wabash, Ohio, and Mississippi rivers. The river drains a watershed of approximately in an agricultural region...
Little Mackinaw River
Little Mackinaw River
The Little Mackinaw River is a tributary of the Mackinaw River, which it joins at near Hopedale in Tazewell County, Illinois.The Little Mackinaw is about in length...
Little Marys River
Little Marys River (Illinois)
The Little Marys River is a tributary of the Marys River. It is located in Randolph County, Illinois.-External links:*...
Little Menominee River
Little Menominee River
The Little Menominee River is a tributary of the Upper Mississippi River, which it joins in Jo Daviess County, Illinois.The Little Menominee rises in Grant County, Wisconsin. It flows south, to the east of the Menominee River, into Illinois. It crosses the northwestern corner of Illinois for about...
Little Muddy River
Little Muddy River (Illinois)
The Little Muddy River is a tributary of the Big Muddy River in Illinois. It forms the boundary between Franklin and Perry counties.-Cities and counties:The following cities and towns are drained by the Little Muddy:*Ashley*DuQuoin*Radom...
Little Vermilion River (Illinois River tributary)
Little Vermilion River (Illinois River tributary)
The Little Vermilion River is a tributary of the Illinois River, which it joins near LaSalle, Illinois, opposite the north-flowing Vermilion River. There is another "Little Vermilion River" in Illinois which is a tributary of the Wabash River.-External links:...
Little Vermilion River (Wabash River tributary)
Little Wabash River
Little Wabash River
The Little Wabash River is a tributary of the Wabash River in east-central and southeastern Illinois in the United States. Via the Wabash and Ohio rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River.-Course:...
Lusk Creek
Lusk Creek
Lusk Creek is a creek located in southeastern Illinois. It is a tributary of the Ohio River, which it joins at Golconda.Lusk Creek flows through the Lusk Creek Canyon, which is perhaps the wildest place in Illinois. Only a single bridge crosses the creek. The watershed is almost entirely within the...
Mackinaw River
Mackinaw River
The Mackinaw River, also called Mackinac River, is a river in the U.S. state of Illinois. It flows through what was once the Grande Prairie region of central Illinois...
Macoupin Creek
Macoupin Creek
Macoupin Creek is a tributary of the Illinois River, which it joins near the village of Hardin, Illinois.The word macoupin refers to the yellow pond lily , a native plant of the regional wetlands, and a favorite food source of local Indians. It has a large rootstock that was baked in a fire pit...
Marys River
Marys River (Illinois)
Marys River is a tributary of the Mississippi River in Illinois. It drains a small watershed between the Big Muddy River and the Kaskaskia River. It joins the Mississippi just southeast of Chester, near Kaskaskia...
Mazon River
Mazon River
The Mazon River or "Mazon Creek", is a tributary of the Illinois River in the United States. The confluence is near Morris, Illinois.The Mazon River is associated with the Mazon Creek fossils of the Francis Creek Shale, which are also exposed in strip mines and quarries near the River...
Menominee River
Menominee River (Illinois)
The Menominee River is an tributary of the Mississippi River, which it joins in Jo Daviess County, Illinois. There is also a Menominee River in northeastern Wisconsin and Michigan, and a Menomonee River that flows through metro Milwaukee....
Middle Fork Vermilion River
Middle Fork Vermilion River
The Middle Fork of the Vermilion River is a tributary of the Vermilion River in Illinois. The Middle Fork rises in Ford County and flows southeast to join the Vermilion near Danville....
Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
Mokeler Creek
Mokeler Creek
Mokeler Creek is a tributary of Piscasaw Creek, itself a tributary of the Kishwaukee River, in northern Illinois.-Course:Mokeler Creek originates in farm fields between Crowley Road and Oak Grove Road, about northeast of Harvard, Illinois. It then flows directly through the city of Harvard...
North Branch Chicago River
North Branch Kishwaukee River
North Branch Kishwaukee River
The North Branch Kishwaukee River is a tributary of the Kishwaukee River in northern Illinois.-Course:The North Branch Kishwaukee River northeast of Harvard, Illinois and flows south through McHenry County. to join the Kishwaukee River east of Marengo...
North Fork Embarras River
North Fork Embarras River
The North Fork Embarras River is a stream which originates in Edgar County, Illinois, and flows through Clark, Crawford and Jasper counties. Its confluence with the Embarras River is located near the town of Ste. Marie in Jasper County. It is a major tributary to the Embarras River...
Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
Owens Creek
Owens Creek (Kishwaukee River)
Owens Creek is a stream in the Kishwaukee River watershed in northern Illinois. It is a tributary of the South Branch Kishwaukee River.-Course:...
Palmer Creek (Columbia, IL)
Panther Creek (Mackinaw watershed)
Pecatonica River
Pecatonica River
The Pecatonica River is a tributary of the Rock River, long, in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois in the United States.The word Pecatonica is an anglicization of two Algonquian language words: Bekaa , which means "slow", and niba, which means "water", forming the conjunction Bekaaniba or...
Pine Creek
Piscasaw Creek
Piscasaw Creek
Piscasaw Creek is a tributary of the Kishwaukee River in Wisconsin and Illinois. Rising in Walworth County, Wisconsin, it passes through McHenry County, Illinois before discharging into the Kishwaukee in Boone County, Illinois...
Plum River
Plum River
The Plum River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, about long, in northwestern Illinois in the United States. It rises in Jo Daviess County and flows generally south-southwestwardly into Carroll County, where it joins the Mississippi at Savanna...
Red River
Red River (Illinois)
The Red River is a tributary of Panther Creek in Woodford County, Illinois. Its headwaters are located southeast of Eureka, and after draining several townships it flows into Panther Creek in Palestine Township. Soon afterwards, Panther Creek itself flows into the Mackinaw River near Congerville...
Rock Creek
Rock River
Rush Creek
Rush Creek (Kishwaukee River)
Rush Creek is a tributary of the Kishwaukee River in northern Illinois.-Course:Rush Creek's origin is in a complex of wetlands near Harvard, Illinois, two miles southeast...
Saline Branch
Saline River
Saline River (Illinois)
The Saline River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately long, in the Southern Illinois region of the U.S. state of Illinois. The river drains a large section of southeast Illinois, with a drainage basin of . The major tributaries include the South Fork, Middle Fork and North Fork, all...
Salt Creek (Des Plaines River tributary)
Salt Creek (Des Plaines River Tributary)
Salt Creek is a stream in northeastern Illinois. It is an important tributary of the Des Plaines River, part of the Illinois River and ultimately the Mississippi River watersheds...
Salt Creek (Little Wabash River tributary)
Salt Creek (Little Wabash River Tributary)
Salt Creek is a tributary of the Little Wabash River, which it joins near Edgewood, Illinois, near the boundary between Effingham and Clay counties...
Salt Creek (Sangamon River tributary)
Salt Creek (Sangamon River Tributary)
Salt Creek is a major tributary to the Sangamon River, which it joins at the boundary between Mason and Menard County, Illinois. There are at least two other Salt Creeks in Illinois, Salt Creek , and in Effingham County, Illinois....
Salt Fork Vermilion River
Salt Fork Vermilion River
The Salt Fork is a tributary of the Vermilion River located in Illinois.The Salt Fork owes its name to saline springs that provided natural salt licks for animals, and which were used for production of salt by Native Americans and early settlers. The springs were located about eight miles west of...
Sangamon River
Sangamon River
The Sangamon River is a principal tributary of the Illinois River, approximately long, in central Illinois in the United States. It drains a mostly rural agricultural area between Peoria and Springfield...
Shoal Creek
Shoal Creek (Illinois)
Shoal Creek is a watercourse in the U.S. state of Illinois. It rises near Harvel, Illinois and, flowing southward through Lake Lou Yaeger, discharges into the Kaskaskia River near Okawville. It drains parts of Montgomery County, Bond County, and Clinton County. Shoal Creek is named for the many...
Sinsinawa River
Sinsinawa River
The Sinsinawa River is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It rises in Grant County, Wisconsin, with headwaters just outside of Cuba City, flowing southwards into Jo Daviess County, Illinois, joining the Mississippi a few miles west of Galena....
Skillet Fork
Skillet Fork
Skillet Fork is a river in southern Illinois in the United States. It is a tributary of the Little Wabash River; via the Little Wabash, Wabash and Ohio rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River....
Skokie River
Skokie River
The Skokie River is a river that flows through the northern suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. It flows almost parallel to the shore of Lake Michigan, and historically discharged its outflow into that lake via the Chicago River...
Somonauk Creek
Somonauk Creek
Somonauk Creek is a tributary of the Fox River, which it joins near Sheridan, Illinois. Somonauk Creek is approximately in length, and its source is north of Waterman...
South Branch Chicago River
South Branch Kishwaukee River
South Branch Kishwaukee River
The South Branch Kishwaukee River is a tributary of the Kishwaukee River in northern Illinois. The South Branch is the main branch of the Kishwaukee River, joining it above its confluence with the Rock River...
Spoon River
Spoon River
The Spoon River is a tributary of the Illinois River in west-central Illinois in the United States. The river drains largely agricultural prairie country between Peoria and Galesburg...
Stillman Creek
Stillman Creek (Illinois)
Stillman Creek, also known during different eras as Mud Creek, Old Man's Creek, Sycamore Creek, and Stillman's Run, is part of the Rock River watershed, and located in Ogle County, Illinois, United States...
Sugar Creek
Sugar Creek (Sangamon River tributary)
Sugar Creek, a tributary of the Sangamon River, is a large creek in central Illinois. It rises in Talkington Township in southwestern Sangamon County, flows briefly through northeastern Macoupin County, and then runs northeastward through south-central Sangamon County before discharging into Lake...
Sugar River
Sugar River (Wisconsin)
The Sugar River is a tributary of the Pecatonica River, approximately long, in the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Illinois.It rises in the hills of southwest Wisconsin, in southwest Dane County, approximately southwest of Madison. The headwaters are at the southern terminus of the last North...
Thorn Creek
Thorn Creek
Thorn Creek is a tributary of the Little Calumet River that travels through Will and Cook counties in northeastern Illinois just south of Chicago. It starts in the high land of the Valparaiso Moraine before dropping to the lower elevations of the Little Calumet River valley. Along its path it has...
Vermilion River (Illinois River tributary)
Vermilion River (Illinois River tributary)
The Vermilion River is a tributary of the Illinois River in the state of Illinois, United States. The river flows north, in contrast to a second Vermilion River in Illinois, which flows south to the Wabash River...
Vermilion River (Wabash River tributary)
Vermilion River (Wabash River tributary)
The Vermilion River is a tributary of the Wabash River in the states of Illinois and Indiana, United States.There are two "Vermilion Rivers" in Illinois. The Wabash tributary flows south, while the other Vermilion River flows north to the Illinois River...
Wabash River
Wabash River
The Wabash River is a river in the Midwestern United States that flows southwest from northwest Ohio near Fort Recovery across northern Indiana to southern Illinois, where it forms the Illinois-Indiana border before draining into the Ohio River, of which it is the largest northern tributary...
West Okaw River
West Okaw River
thumb|rightThe West Okaw River is a tributary of the Kaskaskia River, which it joins in Moultrie County, Illinois. The West Okaw forms an arm of Lake Shelbyville where the natural rivers used to meet....
Wood River
Wood River (Illinois)
Wood River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, which it joins near East Alton, Illinois, to the northeast of St. Louis, Missouri.The Wood River is formed by the confluence of its West and East forks. These come together near where they drop down from the Mississippi bluffs. The natural...
Yellow Creek
Yellow Creek (Illinois)
Yellow Creek is a tributary of the Pecatonica River in Stephenson County, in the U.S. state of Illinois. The 50 mile stream also flows through a small part of Jo Daviess County...

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