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The Des Plaines River is a river that flows southward for 〔U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. (The National Map ), accessed May 13, 2011〕 through southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois〔''American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language,'' Fourth Edition〕 in the United States Midwest, eventually meeting the Kankakee River west of Channahon to form the Illinois River, a tributary of the Mississippi River. Native Americans used the river as transportation route and portage. They revealed to early European explorers (mostly French) how to traverse waterways of the Des Plaines watershed to travel from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River and its valley. The river was named by French explorers during their period of colonization of New France and the Illinois Country of La Louisiane. ==Course and character== The slow-moving Des Plaines River rises in southern Wisconsin just west of Kenosha and flows southward primarily through marshland as it crosses into Illinois. The river turns to the east and flows through woodland forest preserve districts in Lake and Cook counties (and through the city of Des Plaines), northwest of Chicago. Numerous small fixed dams have been built on the river starting in central Lake County and continuing through Cook County. Eventually, the river turns to the southwest and joins with the Sanitary and Ship Canal in Lockport before flowing through the city of Joliet. In the heavily industrialized area around Joliet, dams control the river. Just west of Joliet, the Des Plaines converges with the Kankakee River to form the Illinois River. () Those parts of the Des Plaines River preserved in a mostly natural state are used for conservation and recreation, while substantially altered sections serve as an important industrial waterway and drainage channel. The original course of the riverbed was moved to the west at the town of Lockport during the construction of the Sanitary and Ship Canal in 1905. According to Chicago Wilderness Magazine, as the Des Plaines River runs through four Illinois counties, it "changes from prairie creek to a suburban stream, to a large urbanized river, to a major industrial waterway."〔Chicago Wilderness Magazine (online) -- http://chicagowildernessmag.org/issues/summer2000/IWdesplaines.html〕 Sections of the river in the Lake County and Cook County Forest Preserve districts in Illinois create "a nearly continuous greenway though all of Lake County and the northern section of Cook County." While canoe launching ramps are available, "The lack of ramps for trailered boats makes this long river a quiet, family-friendly river." 〔 This greenway also supports the Des Plaines River Trail, a multi-use trail that roughly follows the course of the Des Plaines River through Lake County and into Cook County. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Des Plaines River」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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