Menominee River (Illinois) Mississippi River after crossing under U.S. Route 20. The river is part of the Driftless Area of Illinois and Wisconsin, a region that remained ice-free during the last ice age. Menominee River (Illinois) The Menominee River is an tributary of the Mississippi River, which it joins in Jo Daviess County, Illinois. The name "Menominee" refers to the Menominee, a Native American people. The name means "good seed" or "wild rice". The Menominee rises in Grant County, Wisconsin at the confluence of Louisburg and Kieler creeks one mile south of Kieler just east of U.S. Route 151 and flows south past
Muddy River (Washington) 83 and passes the Ape Canyon Trailhead and the Lava Canyon Interpretive Site, both on the left, before entering Muddy River Gorge. Flowing northeast through the gorge, the stream plunges over three waterfalls before emerging from the narrows and curving sharply again to the southeast. Here Crane Lake is on the left, Smith Creek enters from the left, and Smith Creek Trailhead is on the right. Slightly downstream of the trailhead, the river leaves the national volcanic monument but remains in the national forest. At about the level, Clearwater Creek enters from the left. Turning south, the river descends less