The Elk River is an 84.0mi river in east-central Minnesota in the United States. It is a tributary of the Mississippi River, draining a watershed of.CourseThe Elk River rises in northern Benton County, Minnesota and initially flows generally southward. In Sherburne County the river turns southeastward, paralleling the Mississippi River for the remainder of its course, past the communities of Becker and Big Lake. In his 1843 map of the Upper Mississippi, Joseph Nicollet recorded this river as "Kabitawi R", reflecting Gaa-biitawi-ziibi ("the parallelling river") in the Ojibwe) due to this parallel course with the Mississippi. It joins the Mississippi at the city of Elk River, after passing through Orono Lake, which is formed by a municipal hydroelectric dam.TributariesIn Sherburne County's Big Lake Township, the Elk collects the
