WISCONSIN RIVER

river rising in the lake region of Vilas county, northern Wisconsin, U.S., near the Wisconsin-Michigan border. It flows south through central Wisconsin past Wausau, Stevens Point, Wisconsin Rapids, and Wisconsin Dells (site of a scenic gorge). The river then turns southeast past Portage and then southwest and west to join the Mississippi River near Prairie du Chien after a course of 430 miles (690 km). The Wisconsin is navigable for light craft as far as Portage, 200 miles (320 km) from its mouth, but navigation farther upstream is made difficult by shifting sandbars. At Portage the Fox River (connected to the Wisconsin by a canal) is only 1.5 miles (2.5 km) to the east across low, marshy ground. Lake Wisconsin is formed by a hydroelectric dam on the river near Prairie du Sac.