Fox River and its watershed
- This article is about a tributary, beginning in far southeastern Wisconsin, of the Illinois River. For the unrelated Lake Michigan tributary Fox River in central and eastern Wisconsin, see Fox River (Wisconsin).
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 (Little Wabash tributary) and a smaller "Fox River" that joins the Wabash River near New Harmony, Indiana.
The Fox River in Wisconsin
The Fox River rises near Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin and flows past Brookfield, Waukesha, Big Bend, Waterford, Rochester, Burlington, Wheatland, Silver Lake and Wilmot, for a total of 70 miles (110 km) in Wisconsin.
A major dam in Waterford forms a 1200 acre navigable waterway which is one of the busiest in SE Wisconsin. The river is generally navigable from the Iron Bridge in Tichigan (just south of Big Bend) down to the dam. The river connects several small lakes in this section, and one large lake, Tichigan Lake. This entire area including connected lakes and the Fox are often referred to as Tichigan Lake.
At the southern end of this section, Foxwood Isle separates the main dam to its west, and a spillway to the east. A single-lane covered bridge, scheduled to be demolished in late 2006 and replaced by a two-lane stone bridge, crosses the Fox at this point.
A small dam is present just a few miles South in downtown Rochester. The river then flows unobstructed through Burlington, where it joins the White River, and on to Wilmot. This is a popular and picturesque day-canoe trip never straying far from the road, but often just out of sight of it.
Flooding is common on this section of the river, especially near Wheatland to the border.
The Fox River in Illinois
The river enters Illinois where it widens into a large area of interconnected lakes known as the Fox Chain O'Lakes. Fox Lake is the largest city in this area. From the chain, the river flows generally southward for 115 miles (185 km), until it joins the Illinois River at Ottawa. Illinois towns that are on the Fox River include (from north to south): Johnsburg, McHenry, Holiday Hills, Island Lake, Cary, Fox River Grove, Algonquin, Carpentersville, West Dundee, East Dundee, Elgin, South Elgin, St. Charles, Geneva, Batavia, North Aurora, Aurora, Montgomery, Oswego, Yorkville, Plano, Sandwich, Somonauk, and Sheridan. Collectively, the area surrounding the Fox River is known as the Fox Valley. Around 1 million people live in this area.
Native American tribes that lived near the Fox River included the Potawatomi, Sac, and Fox tribes.
The Fox River has 15 dams, including McHenry Dam, which raises the river slightly to maintain depth in the Fox Chain O'Lakes in northern Illinois.
Early in the history of the State of Illinois, the Fox River provided water for the Illinois and Michigan Canal via a feeder canal, allowing the canal to pass over the Fox River on an aqueduct.
See also
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