The Shell 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 Crow Wing River

Crow Wing River

The Crow Wing River is a tributary of the Mississippi River approximately in length. The river arises in a chain of 11 lakes in southern Hubbard County, Minnesota and flows generally southeast, entering the Mississippi at Crow Wing State Park, northwest of Little Falls, Minnesota. Its name is a...

, 45 miles (73 km) long, in north-central 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 Crow Wing River, 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...

, draining a rural region.

The river was named for mussel

Mussel

The common name mussel is used for members of several families of clams or bivalvia mollusca, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which are often more or less rounded or oval.The...

 and clam

Clam

The word "clam" can be applied to freshwater mussels, and other freshwater bivalves, as well as marine bivalves.In the United States, "clam" can be used in several different ways: one, as a general term covering all bivalve molluscs...

 shells found along the river and along Shell Lake, its origin.

Geography

The Shell River issues from Shell Lake approximately three miles (5 km) southwest of Pine Point

Pine Point, Minnesota

Pine Point is a census-designated place in Becker County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 337 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...

 in Carsonville Township

Carsonville Township, Minnesota

Carsonville Township is a township in Becker County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 252 as of the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of , of which is land and is water...

 in eastern Becker County

Becker County, Minnesota

Becker County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2010, the population was 32,504. Its county seat is Detroit Lakes. A portion of the White Earth Indian Reservation extends into the county.-History:...

, and initially flows southeastwardly through the Smoky Hills State Forest into southwestern Hubbard County

Hubbard County, Minnesota

As of the census of 2000, there were 18,376 people, 7,435 households, and 5,345 families residing in the county. The population density was 20 people per square mile . There were 12,229 housing units at an average density of 13 per square mile...

 and northwestern Wadena County

Wadena County, Minnesota

As of the census of 2000, there were 13,713 people, 5,426 households, and 3,608 families residing in the county. The population density was 26 people per square mile . There were 6,334 housing units at an average density of 12 per square mile...

, to Blueberry Lake, which collects the Blueberry River

Blueberry River (Minnesota)

The Blueberry River is a tributary of the Shell River, approximately twenty miles long, in north-central Minnesota in the United States...

. From Blueberry Lake, the Shell River flows eastwardly in a winding course through northern Wadena and southern Hubbard Counties, passing through Huntersville State Forest

Huntersville State Forest

The Huntersville State Forest is a state forest located in Wadena County, Minnesota. Around half of the forest is managed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, with the other half controlled privately....

 and collecting the Fish Hook River

Fish Hook River

The Fish Hook River, also spelled Fishhook River, is a tributary of the Shell River, nine miles long, in north-central Minnesota in the United States. The river's source, Fish Hook Lake, collects short tributaries known as the Portage River and the Potato River...

 from the north. It flows into the Crow Wing River in Crow Wing Lake Township

Crow Wing Lake Township, Minnesota

Crow Wing Lake Township is a township in Hubbard County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 266 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water.-Demographics:As of the census of...

 in Hubbard County. The Shell River is the Crow Wing River's first significant tributary, and is substantially the larger of the two at their confluence; the Shell's average discharge of 250 cubic feet per second (7 m³/s) is approximately three times the Crow Wing's discharge above the confluence.

The Shell River flows in the Northern Lakes and Forests ecoregion

Ecoregion

An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...

, which is characterized by conifer and hardwood

Hardwood

Hardwood is wood from angiosperm trees . It may also be used for those trees themselves: these are usually broad-leaved; in temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen.Hardwood contrasts with softwood...

 forests on flat and rolling till plain

Till plain

A till plain is an extensive flat plain of glacial till that forms when a sheet of ice becomes detached from the main body of a glacier and melts in place depositing the sediments it carried. A till plain with irregular topography is referred to as a ground moraine.-See also:*Glacial till plains...

s and outwash plain

Sandur

A sandur is a glacial outwash plain formed of sediments deposited by meltwater at the terminus of a glacier.- Formation :Sandar are found in glaciated areas, such as Svalbard, Kerguelen Islands, and Iceland...

s. The lower course of the river below Blueberry Lake can be canoed

Canoeing

Canoeing is an outdoor activity that involves a special kind of canoe.Open canoes may be 'poled' , sailed, 'lined and tracked' or even 'gunnel-bobbed'....

, and supports a sport fishing population of northern pike

Northern Pike

The northern pike , is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus Esox...

. Clams are present in great quantities on the river bottom, and the former community of Shell City in Shell River Township

Shell River Township, Minnesota

Shell River Township is a township in Wadena County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 276 at the 2000 census. The township was named for the Shell River, which flows through it; the river was named for abundant clam and mussel shells found along its banks.-Geography:According to the...

 was once the site of a button

Button

In modern clothing and fashion design, a button is a small fastener, most commonly made of plastic, but also frequently of seashell, which secures two pieces of fabric together. In archaeology, a button can be a significant artifact. In the applied arts and in craft, a button can be an example of...

factory which made use of their shells.