The North River is a river, approximately 6 miles (9.6 km) long, in northeastern 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...

, the United States

United States

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

. Along with the East River

East River (Minnesota)

-See also:*List of rivers of Minnesota-References:**USGS Hydrologic Unit Map - State of Minnesota...

, it is one of the primary tributaries of Seven Beaver Lake, the source of the Saint Louis River

Saint Louis River

The St. Louis River is a river in the U.S. states of Minnesota and Wisconsin that flows into Lake Superior. The largest U.S. river to flow into the lake, it is 179 miles in length and starts near Hoyt Lakes, Minnesota. The river's watershed is in area...

. Most of the North River lies in Lake County

Lake County, Minnesota

Lake County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2010, the population was 10,866. Its county seat is Two Harbors. Lake County was founded on February 20, 1855, as Superior County, though its name was changed on March 3, of that year to St. Louis County. On March 1, 1856, St...

, with its outlet located in St. Louis County

St. Louis County, Minnesota

St. Louis County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2010, the population was 200,226. Its county seat is Duluth. It is the largest county by total area in Minnesota, and the second largest in the United States east of the Mississippi River; in land area alone, after Aroostook...

. The United States Geologic Survey considers North River to be the source stream (most distant headwaters) of the entire drainage basin

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 Great Lakes

Great Lakes

The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...

 and St. Lawrence system.