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6 rivers · state outlines · landscape · Letter or A4

Printable rivers US map

A state outline sheet for drawing the six rivers every student should know — Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Colorado, Rio Grande and Columbia — with the states each passes through listed below so the course can be traced from the borders.

The printed sheet shows state outlines only. Press Streets on screen to see the rivers on the base map, trace their course, then print the outline and draw them in.

What prints

State outlines with optional two-letter codes, and no rivers drawn. The exercise is to add them. Four of the six rivers form long stretches of state border, so most of each course can be drawn from the borders alone; the descriptions below say which borders to follow and where to leave them. Use the Streets button on screen to see the actual course before or after drawing. Print landscape at 100%.

The six rivers and their states

RiverLengthStates, source to mouthTrace it from
Mississippiabout 2,340 miMinnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, LouisianaLake Itasca in northern Minnesota south through Minneapolis, then the Wisconsin–Minnesota, Wisconsin–Iowa, Illinois–Iowa, Illinois–Missouri, Kentucky–Missouri, Tennessee–Arkansas and Mississippi–Arkansas and Mississippi–Louisiana borders, then across Louisiana past Baton Rouge and New Orleans to the Gulf.
Missouriabout 2,340 miMontana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, MissouriThree Forks in south-west Montana north-east past Great Falls, east across North Dakota (Bismarck) and south through South Dakota (Pierre), then the Nebraska–South Dakota, Nebraska–Iowa (Omaha), Nebraska–Missouri and Kansas–Missouri (Kansas City) borders, then east across Missouri (Jefferson City) to the Mississippi just above St. Louis.
Ohioabout 980 miPennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, IllinoisPittsburgh, then the Ohio–West Virginia, Ohio–Kentucky (Cincinnati), Indiana–Kentucky (Louisville) and Illinois–Kentucky borders to Cairo, Illinois, where it meets the Mississippi. The whole river below Pittsburgh is a state border.
Coloradoabout 1,450 miColorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, CaliforniaRocky Mountain National Park north-west of Denver, south-west across Colorado (Grand Junction) and Utah (Moab, Lake Powell), then across northern Arizona through the Grand Canyon, then south down the Arizona–Nevada (Hoover Dam) and Arizona–California borders to Mexico and the Gulf of California.
Rio Grandeabout 1,900 miColorado, New Mexico, TexasThe San Juan Mountains of southern Colorado, south down the middle of New Mexico (Albuquerque, Las Cruces), then the entire Texas–Mexico border south-east from El Paso through the Big Bend to Brownsville and the Gulf of Mexico.
Columbiaabout 1,240 mi (about 750 in the US)Washington, OregonEnters Washington from British Columbia in the north-east corner, loops south and west through the centre of the state (Grand Coulee Dam), takes the Snake near Pasco, then follows the Washington–Oregon border west past Portland to the Pacific at Astoria.

Print settings

  1. Press the Print button on the map (or Ctrl+P / Cmd+P). The page switches to a print layout with the map only — no header, navigation or text.
  2. Orientation: Landscape. The contiguous states are about 1.6 times as wide as they are tall, which matches a landscape Letter or A4 sheet almost exactly.
  3. Margins: Default or Minimum. Turn off Headers and footers so the URL and date do not print.
  4. Scale: 100%, or Fit to page if your browser offers it.
  5. To make a PDF instead of a paper copy, choose Save as PDF as the destination.

Exercises

  1. Draw all six. Using the table, pencil each river on the printed sheet, then compare with the Streets layer on screen. Colour the Mississippi system (Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio) one colour and the three western rivers another.
  2. Count the borders. The Mississippi forms part of the border of ten states; the Ohio of six; the Missouri of five. Mark each border segment as you draw it.
  3. Divide. Draw the Continental Divide from the Montana–Canada line to New Mexico and mark which rivers flow to which ocean: Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio and Rio Grande to the Atlantic via the Gulf, Colorado and Columbia to the Pacific.
  4. Meeting points. Mark and name the three great confluences: Missouri–Mississippi (St. Louis), Ohio–Mississippi (Cairo) and Snake–Columbia (Pasco).
  5. Cities on rivers. Place Minneapolis, St. Louis, Memphis, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Louisville, Omaha, Kansas City, El Paso and Portland on the correct river.

Related pages

Each river has its own page under rivers, with a map, length and the cities on it. The Snake, Arkansas and Hudson are good next rivers to add to the sheet.

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