How Far Can a Ship Travel Up the Mississippi River From the Gulf of Mexico?

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Karen Hill

Small ships can make it up the Mississippi from New Orleans all the way to Minneapolis, Minnesota, about 1,800 miles (2,898 km) north.

The river is 9 to 100 feet (2.7 to 31 m) deep most of the way, and at one point, north of Clinton, Iowa, it is 3.5 miles (5.6 km) wide.

The Mississippi River runs through 10 states and was shaped by the Laurentide Ice Sheet of the most recent Ice Age.

Hundreds of Native American tribes have depended on the Mississippi River and it is the tenth most powerful river in the world.

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