Class I Tippecanoe River, IN

The Tippecanoe River is considered the river of lakes. It is fed and nourished by eighty-eight natural lakes including some of the state's largest. It has a drainage area of approximately 1,900 square miles owing to the many small tributaries. Many lakes and swamps are the source of the tributaries, providing a more or less continuous flow of water. Each lake acts as a settling basin which reduces the amount of silt carried. The gentle, 166-mile river is bordered for much of its length by green fields and forest as it meanders down from Tippecanoe Lake in Kosciusko County. This is the deepest lake in the state. There is good fishing and hunting to be found along the river's banks and in the many cold springs that bubble out of the high bluffs and banks. Several small green islands add to the natural beauty of the Tippecanoe River. The water is amazingly clear and is generally muddy only after a storm. The Tippecanoe has an unusual profile in that its fall in the lower course greatly exceeds the fall in the upper course. This has resulted from the glacial drift material through which the river flows in the upper course. (Indiana DNR Canoeing Guide)