See all 9 routes on St. Louis River
Minnesota | Northeast Minnesota
St. Louis RiverForbes to Toivola
Long St. Louis River continuation from Forbes through Zim to Toivola, beginning in the direct Forbes gauge corridor.
Checking current river conditions…
Route location
Loading the route snapshot. This usually takes a few seconds.
Route overview
Trip details
Access rules, camping and seasonal notes.
Permits, camping and season
Access and shuttle
Launch beside the Forbes gauge, pass Zim, and continue to Toivola on the upper-middle St. Louis River.
Access map
Put-in
St. Louis River, Forbes Public Water Access SiteForbes resolves in Minnesota public-water-access GIS as WAS00614 near DNR river mile 125.9.
Take-out
St. Louis River, Toivola Public Water Access SiteZim resolves in Minnesota public-water-access GIS as WAS00613 near DNR river mile 113.0.
Road shuttle
Stage the take-out before launching. This combined route joins the researched st-louis-river-forbes-zim and st-louis-river-zim-toivola access corridors and requires a longer rural shuttle.
Additional access notes
- Keep the trip framed from public access to public access. Do not use private banks or dam infrastructure for routine stops.
- Minnesota public-water-access GIS resolves Zim as WAS00613 at river mile 113.0 and Toivola as WAS00615 at river mile 94.2.
- The Forbes gauge is upstream of Zim. It has official DNR interpretation bands, but it is still a corridor proxy and should be paired with launch-side depth checks.
- Do not continue below Toivola into the longer Toivola-to-County-Road-29 route unless that separate plan, campsite posture, and downstream gauge caveat are already accepted.
More route and safety guidance
- DNR flags the Forbes gauge corridor for Class I-II maneuvering and dam portage skills. Low water exposes rocks; rising water shortens reaction time around wood and bends.
- Use the named DNR public accesses only. This is a remote cold-water section with limited exits, private banks, and long rescue spacing.
- This longer combined itinerary requires an early start, a staged shuttle, and a conservative turnaround decision even when the direct gauge is in range.
Plan this paddle
Choose your trip times
No account needed. Check the selected access points above, then choose both dates and times. For an overnight paddle, set take-out to the following date.
Times use the selected time zone. Check it against the river’s location before saving or sharing.
Browser plans stay on this device. Sharing opens your device’s share tools or gives you text to copy.
Download GPX Route geometry only; no schedule required.
Conditions
Check how the river is changing and what weather to expect.
Recent trend
Checking preferred range.
Checking trend.
Gauge source
--Checking timestampundefined provides a current paddling-level interpretation; Paddle Today does not turn the source hydrograph image into trend samples.
Detailed weather
Weather
Hourly forecast
Checking weather.
Loading today's forecast.
Next 8 hours
Short-route forecast
Checking the next several hours.
Plan ahead
Tomorrow and the weekend
Forecasts can change. Check current conditions again before leaving.
Waiting on forecast.
Waiting on forecast.
Photos and recent reports
Look for recent access, obstruction and hazard observations. Context photos may show a different part of the river.
Paddler reports
Recent notes from paddlers
A few quick notes from people who were on this route recently.
Share a recent access update, hazard observation or photo.
Sources and methodology
Review source dates and published guidance below. We have not inspected this trip in person.
Why this scoreData reliability: checking
This rating reflects whether the gauge measures this part of the river, whether published water-level guidance is available, and how recently the data was updated.
- Checking data sources and update times.
- Checking evidence cautions.
Data behind the scoreWater levels, published guidance and update times
These readings and published water-level limits help explain today’s score.
| Gauge site | St. Louis River nr Forbes, US53 |
| Gauge height | Checking |
| Discharge | Checking |
| 24h trend | Checking |
| 24h change | Checking |
| Current band | Checking |
| Rain last 24h | Checking |
| Rain last 72h | Checking |
| Air temp | Checking |
| Water temp | Checking |
| Wind | Checking |
| Gusts | Checking |
| Rain timing | Checking |
| Preferred range | 3.70 ft to 7.60 ft |
| Low threshold | 3.00 ft |
| High threshold | 8.00 ft |
| Evidence strength behind the range | Official data source |
| Gauge observed | Checking |
| Paddle Today updated | Checking |
| Main source behind this score | MN DNR river-level interpretation bands for St. Louis River near Forbes |
| Gauge source | Checking |
| Weather source | Checking |
| Rainfall source | Checking |
NotesPublished evidence and verification notes
These notes cover the access details, route quirks, and source caveats most likely to matter once you get there.
- Qualifying gauge relationshipSt. Louis River nr Forbes, US53
DNR site 244 is immediately upstream of the Forbes launch, making the gauge direct for the route start rather than a regional proxy.
- Public-access continuityForbes to Toivola
The route joins adjacent researched segments whose shared endpoint coordinates and official public-access records match.
Verify it yourselfCheck the source links
Use these links to double-check the gauge, route details, and access notes before you head out.
Other routes nearby
More on St. Louis River
All 9Nearby routes within 75 miles
Flag a change
See something outdated?
Access, hazards, wood, and shuttle details change. Send a quick correction if something looks off.