Shell River (Minnesota)
{{Other uses|Shell River (disambiguation)}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox river
| name = Shell River
| native_name =
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| image = Shell River Minnesota.jpg
| image_caption = The Shell River in Straight River Township in 2007
| map =
| map_size = 300
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| pushpin_map = USA Minnesota
| pushpin_map_size = 300
| pushpin_map_caption = Location of the mouth of the Shell River in Crow Wing Lake Township
| subdivision_type1 = Country
| subdivision_name1 = United States
| subdivision_type2 = State
| subdivision_name2 = Minnesota
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| length = {{convert|47.8|mi|km|abbr=on}}
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| discharge1_location = at mouth{{cite book |last= Waters |first= Thomas F. |title= The Streams and Rivers of Minnesota |year= 2006 |publisher= University of Minnesota Press |location= Minneapolis |isbn= 0-8166-0960-8 |pages= [https://archive.org/details/streamsriversofm0000wate/page/184 184–194] |chapter= The Crow Wing: Oxcart to Canoe |url= https://archive.org/details/streamsriversofm0000wate/page/184 }}
| discharge1_min =
| discharge1_avg = {{convert|250|cuft/s|m3/s|abbr=on}}
| discharge1_max =
| source1 = Shell Lake
| source1_location = Carsonville Township, Becker County
| source1_coordinates = {{coord|46|56|50|N|95|24|39|W|display=inline}}{{cite web |url={{Gnis3|651945}} |title=Geographic Names Information System entry for Shell River (Feature ID #651945) |work=Geographic Names Information System |publisher= United States Geological Survey |accessdate=2007-06-24}}
| source1_elevation = {{convert|1519|ft|abbr=on}}Google Earth elevation for GNIS coordinates. Retrieved on 2007-06-24.
| mouth = Crow Wing River
| mouth_location = Crow Wing Lake Township, Hubbard County
| mouth_coordinates = {{coord|46|48|26|N|94|53|16|W|display=inline,title}}
| mouth_elevation = {{convert|1362|ft|abbr=on}}
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| tributaries_left = Fish Hook River
| tributaries_right = Blueberry River
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The Shell River is a {{convert|47.8|mi|km|adj=mid|-long}}U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. [http://viewer.nationalmap.gov/viewer/ The National Map], accessed December 26, 2012 tributary of the Crow Wing River in north-central Minnesota in the United States. Via the Crow Wing River, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining a rural region.
The river was named for mussel and clam shells found along the river and along Shell Lake, its origin.{{cite web |url=http://mnplaces.mnhs.org/upham/index.cfm |title=Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. |accessdate=2007-06-24 |last=Upham |first=Warren |publisher=Minnesota Historical Society |pages=[http://mnplaces.mnhs.org/upham/waterway.cfm?PlaceNameID=8366&BookCodeID=53&County=80&SendingPage=Results.cfm Wadena County: Shell River Township] |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070620200046/http://mnplaces.mnhs.org/upham/index.cfm |archivedate=2007-06-20 }}
Geography
The Shell River issues from Shell Lake approximately {{convert|3|mi|0}} southwest of Pine Point in Carsonville Township in eastern Becker County, and initially flows southeastwardly through the Smoky Hills State Forest into southwestern Hubbard County and northwestern Wadena County, to Blueberry Lake, which collects the Blueberry River. From Blueberry Lake, the Shell River flows eastwardly in a winding course through northern Wadena and southern Hubbard counties, passing through Huntersville State Forest and collecting the Fish Hook River from the north. It flows into the Crow Wing River in Crow Wing Lake Township in Hubbard County.{{cite book| title= Minnesota Atlas & Gazetteer |year=1994 |publisher= DeLorme |location=Yarmouth, Me. |isbn= 0-89933-222-6 |pages= 60–61}} 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 {{convert|250|ft3/s|m3/s|lk=on|sp=us}} is approximately three times the Crow Wing's discharge above the confluence.
The Shell River flows in the Northern Lakes and Forests ecoregion, which is characterized by conifer and hardwood forests on flat and rolling till plains and outwash plains.{{cite web |url= http://www.pca.state.mn.us/water/basins/uppermiss/index.html |title= Upper Mississippi River Basin. |pages= [http://www.pca.state.mn.us/water/basins/uppermiss/bid-section3.pdf Upper Mississippi River Basin Water Quality Plan, Headwaters to the Rum River - Anoka, Section III: Upper Mississippi River Basin] |publisher= Minnesota Pollution Control Agency |year= 2000 |accessdate= 2007-06-17 |url-status= dead |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20070618074943/http://www.pca.state.mn.us/water/basins/uppermiss/index.html |archivedate= 2007-06-18 }} The lower course of the river below Blueberry Lake can be canoed, and supports a sport fishing population of northern pike. Clams are present in great quantities on the river bottom, and the former community of Shell City in Shell River Township was once the site of a button factory which made use of their shells.