The Grand River is the largest northern Missouri tributary of the Missouri River, draining 6,320 square miles that includes all of Harrison, Mercer, Grundy, Daviess, and Livingston Counties, and parts of Worth, Putnam, Gentry, De Kalb, Clinton, Caldwell, Carroll, Chariton, Linn and Sullivan Counties in a basin that is about 150 miles long and 90 miles wide. The Grand is a free-flowing river although proposals for as many as five dams have been presented throughout the years, with the most prominent being the Pattonsburg Dam at Pattonsburg, Missouri. The United States Army Corps of Engineers bought out residents of the area after the Great Flood of 1993, but the proposed dam was never built.

The Grand descends at a gentle gradient of about three feet per mile although the Pop's Branch, near Princeton, Missouri, descends at a respectablely steep rate of about 44 feet per mile. Average discharge for the Grand at Sumner, Missouri is 3,917 cfs. The maximum instantaneous peak flow of 180,000 cfs occurred in June, 1947. During the 1993 flood 150,000 cfs was reported at Sumner. In 1835, the Missouri Legislature declared it a navigable stream to the Iowa line. While its original declaration was intended for steamboat traffic, the river was seldom navigable above Chillicothe because of inadequate water levels, but it offers good opportunities for recreational boating much of the time.

Of particular interest is the fact that Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormon Church) stated that the area around Adam-ondi-Ahman near Gallatin, Missouri is the site where Adam and Eve lived after being evicted from the Garden of Eden. Whodathunkit? Adam and Eve were the FIRST American citizens! And, they lived in Missouri! Maybe this place really IS Middle Earth! Swan Lake National Wildlife Refuge is on the Yellow Creek tributary at Sumner, Missouri. The Grand River offers many recreational opportunities for paddlers, campers, hikers, mountain bikers, nature photographers and others wanting to enjoy the generally unspoiled beauty of a major river system.

In Missouri, The Grand River basin accounts for about 54,281 acres with the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) managing approximately 56% of that land. Public access for recreational purposes includes some 29 locations with 12 of them being for boater access on the mainstream of the Grand. Portions of the Thompson River, Grindstone Creek, Big Creek (Harrison and Daviess counties), Grand River and Locust Creek have been highlighted as good stream reaches for canoeing and kayaking, and 16 public fishing lakes offer immense recreational opportunities in the area.

Worth, Gentry, Daviess, Livingston and Chariton Counties of northweatern and central Missouri, and flowing to the Missouri River confluence south of Brunswick and the Swan Lake National Wildlife Refuge.

Joplin miles; Springfield miles; Kansas City miles; St. Louis miles; Oklahoma City miles; Little Rock miles; Dallas miles; Austin miles; San Antonio miles; Houston miles; Albuquerque miles; Phoenix miles; Denver miles; Salt Lake City miles (all distances are approximate and depend upon starting point, destination point on the river and route taken.)