For obvious reasons, I have been interested in the Rainy Lake watershed this year. Levels are still rising in Rainy. Does anyone know what the outlet is for this watershed? Does it eventually drain to the Hudson bay?

We are going in at Kawishiwi lake on June 4th. From what I can tell, the Kawishiwi river starts at Kawishiwi lake and eventually makes it's way to Fall lake, Basswood, Crooked, ..., on down to Rainy.

I would expect the closer to are to the top end of things like Kawishiwi lake, the sooner the water levels will recede.

At what point on the border lakes does the water change over and flow to lake Superior?

What do you know about the flow?

Google up laurentian continental divide and go to images. Also check Wikipedia.

Yes, the higher you are in the watershed, the sooner the levels will drop if it stays dry.

The height of land separating the Hudson Bay and Lake Superior watershed runs through the BWCA a bit east of Kawishiwi Lake. I seem to recall it runs between Alton and Beth and goes somewhat northeast just south of Cherokee. Maybe someone else has more details.

It’s a real shame such an interesting geographic feature is not clearly marked on most BWCA maps.

The Arctic Watershed sign on Hwy 11 in Ontario is about 5km east of the park.

Jaywalker: "Yes, the higher you are in the watershed, the sooner the levels will drop if it stays dry.


The height of land separating the Hudson Bay and Lake Superior watershed runs through the BWCA a bit east of Kawishiwi Lake. I seem to recall it runs between Alton and Beth and goes somewhat northeast just south of Cherokee. Maybe someone else has more details.


It’s a real shame such an interesting geographic feature is not clearly marked on most BWCA maps. "

It would have to marked in a lot of places, since the the Laurentian Divide isn't a single location but a massive ridge that looks like a river on a map. In this area it moves southwest from the "official" Height of Land portage between South and North lakes on the US/Canada border, and down toward the area you mention. There is a USFS Laurentian Divide overlook on the Gunflint Trail, and an international border marker on the portage itself.

Wish me luck. I am heading to Rainy Lake this weekend to deal with the flooding of some historical cabins. Worse then the flooding in 2014 and reaching the flooding of 1950.

Drains through Lake Winnipeg and then into Hudson Bay.

These pics are east of Isabella 5 miles, Divide lake and Tanner Lakes on each side of FR 172 make up this area of the Laurentian Divide.

What's the obvious reason for the interest?

Obvious interest because water levels are very high and still rising at Crain Lake, so understanding the watershed will help me understand what the water levels will be doing in the next several weeks. The closer you are to the 'top' of the watershed, the sooner the water will begin to recede. Also helps to understand which way the water is flowing.

Rainy is supposed to go up another foot.

HayRiverDrifter: "Obvious interest because water levels are very high and still rising at Crain Lake, so understanding the watershed will help me understand what the water levels will be doing in the next several weeks. The closer you are to the 'top' of the watershed, the sooner the water will begin to recede. Also helps to understand which way the water is flowing."

Try this.
https://river-runner-global.samlearner.com/

Very interesting, I will follow this thread

Rainy 5-28.

Yep... once your past south lake into north on the border route the water is flowing to Hudson Bay via lake Winnipeg. Manitoba had some serious flooding too.