The Continental Divide

The line this disc marks is the Laurentian Divide, the northern divide that sends water to Hudson Bay on one side and to the Mississippi and the Atlantic on the other. It begins in Montana at Triple Divide Peak, often called the hydrological apex of North America, crosses into the Dakotas from Canada, reaches the far northeast corner of South Dakota, and enters Minnesota at the Traverse Gap. Near Hibbing it meets the St. Lawrence divide at the Hill of Three Waters, where the Mississippi, Nelson and St. Lawrence watersheds touch.

What the plaque says

The Continental Divide between Hudson Bay and Gulf of Mexico Erected 1955 by Sisseton Chamber of Commerce and State Highway Commission

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Joseph N. Nicollet Tower and Interpretive Center — 11 mi
  A tower on the edge of the Coteau des Prairies honoring the French mapmaker who drew this country in 1838 and 1839 and kept the Dakota names on the map.
• Sica Hollow State Park — 11 mi
  Wooded ravines on the edge of the Coteau, on the Lake Traverse Reservation, where the springs run iron-red and the Dakota tell of a good land gone bad.

More markers nearby

• Stones from Log Flour Mill — 11 mi
• Little Paul Mazakutemani — 11 mi
• Map of Northeast South Dakota — 11 mi
• Two Sisters — 13 mi