The Vermillion River is a “prairie river” that slowly winds through rural, suburban, and urban areas in the southwest part of the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area. The river drains 335 square miles in central Dakota and extreme southeastern Scott Counties and 20 municipalities are wholly or partly within the watershed boundary making it the largest in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis/Saint Paul) metropolitan area.
Beginning in southeastern Scott County, the River flows across central Dakota County to the city of Hastings where it drops 90 feet.
Below the falls the river meanders a short way downstream and then splits: one branch flows north to the Mississippi River; the other flows south paralleling the Mississippi River 20 miles before joining the Mississippi River near the City of Red Wing in Goodhue County.
Approximately 49 miles of the Vermillion River (main stem and tributaries) are designated trout streams, making the river a unique natural resource in a rapidly growing metropolitan area. According to Trout Unlimited, it is the only world class trout stream within a major metropolitan Area in the United States. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the Twin Cities chapter of Trout Unlimited completed a survey of the trout population in the Vermillion River. The survey found the number of trout hatched in spring 2006 was higher than in previous years.
Scott and Dakota are among the nation’s fastest-growing counties (the watershed’s population grew 40% in the 1990’s). Preserving the Rivers water quality and temperature are essential for trout reproduction.
