Big Muddy River Big Muddy River The Big Muddy River is a river in southern Illinois. It joins the Mississippi River just south of Grand Tower. The Big Muddy has been dammed near Benton, forming Rend Lake. The Big Muddy has a mud bottom for most of its length. The Big Muddy drains a watershed. In 1995, water quality was assessed as "fair" to "good". Pollution sources include agricultural practices, mining and municipalities. The watershed of the Big Muddy was covered by the Illinoian Glacier about 300,000 to 132,000 years before present. The Big Muddy basin formed after the retreat of that glacier.
Illinois River (Colorado) Illinois River (Colorado) Illinois River is a tributary of the Michigan River, approximately long, in Jackson County in north central Colorado. It drains part of the North Park basin south of Walden. The Illinois River starts in the Never Summer Mountains near the continental divide, just south of Farview Mountain. It descends northward through a winding gorge, emerging into North Park at approximately above sea level. It flows northward through the valley as a winding stream, past Rand. It passes under State Highway 14 just southeast of Walden and joins the Michigan from the north just north of Walden. A