The Maple River is a tributary

Tributary

A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...

 of the Le Sueur River

Le Sueur River

The Le Sueur River is a tributary of the Blue Earth River, 111 miles long, in southern Minnesota in the United States. Via the Blue Earth and Minnesota Rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of 1,089 square miles...

 in southern Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Via the Le Sueur, Blue Earth

Blue Earth River

The Blue Earth River is a tributary of the Minnesota River, 108 miles long, in southern Minnesota in the United States, it is also a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources designated Water Trail. Two of its headwaters tributaries, the Middle Branch Blue Earth River and the West Branch...

 and Minnesota

Minnesota River

The Minnesota River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 332 miles long, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It drains a watershed of nearly , in Minnesota and about in South Dakota and Iowa....

 rivers, it is part of the watershed

Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

 of the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

.

Course

The Maple River flows from Penny Lake in northwestern Freeborn County

Freeborn County, Minnesota

As of the census of 2000, there were 32,584 people, 13,356 households, and 9,015 families residing in the county. The population density was 46 people per square mile . There were 13,996 housing units at an average density of 20 per square mile...

 and initially follows a generally northwestward course through northeastern Faribault

Faribault County, Minnesota

As of the census of 2000, there were 16,181 people, 6,652 households, and 4,476 families residing in the county. The population density was 23 people per square mile . There were 7,247 housing units at an average density of 10 per square mile...

 and southern Blue Earth

Blue Earth County, Minnesota

Blue Earth County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2010, the population was 64,013. Its county seat is Mankato.Blue Earth County is part of the Mankato–North Mankato Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...

 counties. It turns northward in Blue Earth County and passes the town of Good Thunder

Good Thunder, Minnesota

Good Thunder is a city in Blue Earth County, Minnesota, along the Maple River. The population was 583 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Mankato–North Mankato Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...

. It joins the Le Sueur River from the south, about 6 mi (10 km) south of Mankato

Mankato, Minnesota

Mankato is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 39,309 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth largest city in Minnesota outside of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. The county seat of Blue Earth County, it is located...

.