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It originates in the forests of the Lake District of northern Wisconsin, in Lac Vieux Desert near the border of the upper peninsula of Michigan. It flows south across the glacial plain of central Wisconsin, passing Wausau and Stevens Point. In southern Wisconsin it encounters the terminal moraine formed during the last ice age, where it forms the spectacular Dells of the Wisconsin River. North of Madison, it turns to the west, flowing across the hills of southwest Wisconsin and joins the Mississippi approximately 10 mi (16 km) south of Prairie du Chien.

It is navigable up to the town of PortagePortage is a city located in Columbia County, Wisconsin. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 9,728. It is the county seat of Columbia County 6. Portage is named for the Fox-Wisconsin Waterway, a portage between the Fox River and the, 200 mi (320 km) from its mouth, where it is separated from the Fox RiverThe Fox River is a river in Wisconsin in the United States. It flows from central Wisconsin through Lake Winnebago into the Bay of Green Bay. Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet portaged from this river to the Wisconsin River and then to the Mississippi ri by only 2 mi (3.2 km), furnishing an important early route between Lake MichiganLake Michigan is one of the five North American Great Lakes. It is bounded, in clockwise order from the south, by the US states of Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan, which is named for it. Lake Michigan is the only one of the Great Lakes wholly w and the Mississippi for Native AmericanNative Americans (also Indians Aboriginal Peoples American Indians First Nations Alaskan Natives or Indigenous Peoples of America are the indigenous inhabitants of Americas prior to the European colonization, and their modern descendants. This term compris and early FrenchThe French Republic or France ( French: Republique francaise or France is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. explorers. (See: French colonization of the AmericasThe French established colonies across the New World in the 17th century. They were developed to export sugar and furs among other products. North America Explorers and settlers from France settled in what is now Canada, the Mississippi Valley and along t).

The Wisconsin is impoundedA dam (a common Teutonic word, compare to Dutch dam Swedish and German damm and the Gothic verb faurdammjan to block up) is a barrier across flowing water that obstructs, directs or retards the flow, often creating a reservoir, lake or impoundment. Most d in 26 places for hydroelectric power and has been called "the hardest-working river in America."