Illinois Rivers and Pools
82 Illinois rivers, creeks and navigation pools, from the Mississippi and Illinois pools to the Fox and Kankakee, with USGS flow.
Photo of Big Muddy River: U.S. Department of Agriculture, CC0 1.0
Pick for troutPiscifun Carbon X ultralight spinning reel28% OFFSale $57.99 A
- Apple Riverriver
B
- Big Muddy Riverriver
- Bonpas Creekstream
C
- Cache Riverriver
- Calumet Riverriver
- Chicago Riverriver
- Crab Orchard Creekstream
D
- Des Plaines Riverriver
- DuPage Riverriver
E
- East Branch Du Page Riverriver
- East Fork Kaskaskia Riverriver
- Edwards Riverriver
- Embarras Riverriver
F
- Fox Riverriver
G
- Green River (Henry County)river
I
- Illinois Rivermain river
- Illinois River, Alton Poolriver pool
- Illinois River, Dresden Island Poolriver pool
- Illinois River, LaGrange Poolriver pool
- Illinois River, Marseilles Poolriver pool
- Illinois River, Peoria Poolriver pool
- Illinois River, Starved Rock Poolriver pool
- Iroquois Riverriver
K
- Kankakee Riverriver
- Kaskaskia Riverriver
- Kishwaukee Riverriver
L
- La Moine Riverriver
- Lamoine Riverriver
- Little Calumet Riverriver
- Little Wabash Riverriver
M
- Mackinaw Riverriver
- Mazon Riverriver
- Middle Fork Saline Riverriver
- Middle Fork Vermilion Riverriver
- Mississippi Rivermain river
- Mississippi River, Open Riverriver reach
- Mississippi River, Pool 12river pool
- Mississippi River, Pool 13river pool
- Mississippi River, Pool 14river pool
- Mississippi River, Pool 15river pool
- Mississippi River, Pool 16river pool
- Mississippi River, Pool 17river pool
- Mississippi River, Pool 18river pool
- Mississippi River, Pool 19river pool
- Mississippi River, Pool 20river pool
- Mississippi River, Pool 21river pool
- Mississippi River, Pool 22river pool
- Mississippi River, Pool 24river pool
- Mississippi River, Pool 25river pool
- Mississippi River, Pool 26river pool
N
- North Branch Chicago Riverriver
- North Fork Embarras Riverriver
- North Fork Vermilion River (Vermilion County)river
O
- Ohio Rivermain river
- Ohio River, Olmsted Poolriver pool
- Ohio River, Open Riverriver reach
- Ohio River, Smithland Poolriver pool
P
- Pecatonica Riverriver
- Pine Creekriver
R
- Rock Rivermain river
- Rock River, Dixon Poolriver pool
- Rock River, Fordham Poolriver pool
- Rock River, Milan Poolriver pool
- Rock River, Oregon Poolriver pool
- Rock River, Rockton Poolriver pool
- Rock River, Steel Dam Tailwatersriver reach
- Rock River, Sterling Poolriver pool
S
- Saline Riverriver
- Sangamon Riverriver
- Sinsinawa Riverriver
- Skillet Forkstream
- Skokie Riverriver
- South Branch Kishwaukee River (McHenry County)river
- South Branch Kishwaukee River (Winnebago County)river
- South Fork Saline Riverriver
- South Fork Sangamon Riverriver
- Spoon Riverriver
V
- Vermilion River (Illinois River basin)river reach
- Vermilion River (Wabash River basin)river reach
W
- Wabash Riverriver
- West Branch Du Page Riverriver
- West Okaw Riverriver
Photos
Lake and river scenes for Illinois Rivers and Pools
Photo: Richie Diesterheft, CC BY-SA 2.0
Photo: Alaina McDavid, CC BY-SA 2.0
Photo: David Wilson, CC BY 2.0
Photo: David Wilson, CC BY 2.0
Answers
Land of Lincoln rivers list, reader questions
How many Illinois rivers and pools have a page?
82: 31 navigation pools on the Mississippi, Illinois, Ohio and Rock, the four main rivers themselves and the rest creeks and rivers.
Why are the big rivers split into pools?
IDNR writes up the Mississippi, Illinois, Ohio and Rock one lock and dam pool at a time, so each pool keeps its own ratings and ramps.
Which rivers have an IFishIllinois write-up?
48; the rest are USGS GNIS streams that carry a gauge, a ramp or a digest rule.
Are the flows live?
USGS gauges refresh several times a day; NOAA pool and tailwater stages print with the UTC time they were read.
Which rivers form a border with another state?
21 pages cover water shared with Iowa, Missouri, Kentucky or Indiana, each with the reciprocity text from the digest.
Do rivers carry digest exceptions?
13 river and pool pages list site-specific rules printed in the 2026 digest.
Are river lengths printed?
No. Lengths were not measured for these pages, so none appears.
How many gauge-equipped Illinois river pages are there?
65 pages show at least one live USGS gauge.
IDNR rules and lists
Moving on from the Illinois rivers list
- Illinois waters from A to Zlakes, ponds, river pools, counties, towns and fish together
- Illinois licenses and limitsIDNR fees, stamps and the 13 statewide digest rows
- Site-specific watersall 441 digest entries that change a statewide rule
- Lake Michigan rules and stampssalmon stamp, perch closure and the 21-inch bass rule
- Boundary riversMississippi, Ohio and Wabash reciprocity
- Free Fishing Daysfour June days with no license or stamp
- Illinois record fishhook and line plus bow and arrow
- IDNR stocking tablesix years of hatchery rows by water
- Catchable trout programspring and fall openers and the Inland Trout Stamp
- Gauges and pool readingsUSGS live, Corps and NOAA dated
- Lake MichiganChicago and Lake County harbors, lagoons and launches
- Boat rampsIDNR map launches with a page
- Fishing piersIDNR asset-inventory piers
- Tackle loaner sitesfree rods at libraries and park offices
- Bait and tackle shopsstores and marinas in three groupings
- Guides and chartersLake Michigan charters and inland guides
- TournamentsBFL, B.A.S.S. Nation and IHSA dates and winners
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