Big Muddy River Wisconsinan-era lake. This is why the Big Muddy tends to be so muddy. The Big Muddy joins the Mississippi River in Jackson County near the La Rue-Pine Hills Ecological Area and less than south of Grand Tower Island. The Pine Hills are bluffs overlooking the Big Muddy as it flows through La Rue swamp. During the melting of the Wisconsinan glacier, the Mississippi River flood plain was filled with rushing meltwater in summer. During the winter the flow of meltwater was cut off, and the floodplain was a wide stretch of exposed mud. Winter winds created dust storms that covered
Fox River (Illinois River tributary) and a spillway to the east. 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 river enters Illinois where it widens into a large area of interconnected lakes known as the Chain O'Lakes. Fox Lake is the largest village in this