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Thomson Dam, Minnesota
Thomson Dam on the St Louis River in Minnesota.
Open in BirdTrout46.6687, -92.4188 · Carlton County · NID MN00604. Tap the map to open this water in the live app.
What the runs do here
St Louis River carries no anadromous run on our corridor map, so this page makes no claim about salmon or steelhead at this dam. What it sits on is coldwater — resident trout water — and the section below says which classification says so.
The structure
- Owner
- Allete, Inc. Private
- Purpose
- Hydroelectric, Recreation
- Completed
- 1907
- Type
- Earth
- Height
- 15 ft
- Length
- 1600 ft
- Spillway
- None
- Storage
- 4,352 acre-ft · 375 acre pool
- Drainage
- 3,548 sq mi
- Condition
- Fair · High hazard potential
- Status
- Under Remediation
From the National Inventory of Dams (USACE). Hazard potential is a downstream-consequence classification, not a statement about the structure's condition.
The water above and below
- Otter Creek 0.45 mi from the dam · Designated trout stream · designated (MN DNR)
Coldwater designation is the state's own classification. A dam sits on one river and this list is every designated reach within a mile and a half of it, so a tributary mouth shows up here too.
Water right now
| Gauge | Distance | Temp | Flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis River at Scanlon, Mn | 2.4 mi | 62.2 °F | 448 cfs |
| Skunk Creek below Elim Creek near Holyoke, MN | 10.8 mi | — | — |
Live from USGS. A gauge miles away is a gauge miles away — the distance column is there so you can discount it. A hydro dam's releases move the flow below it on a schedule the gauge sees and this page does not. 1 of the gauges above is not sending water temperature at all — a stopped gauge still answers with the last value it ever sent and nothing to say so, so those rows carry a modelled figure where one can be fitted, marked as modelled, and a dash where it cannot.
Getting to it
- Thomson Reservoir Public Water Access Site 2.6 mi · canoe launch
- Chub Lake Public Water Access Site 3.1 mi · boat launch · Chub
- St. Louis River, Cloquet Public Water Access Site 4.6 mi · boat launch
- St. Louis River, Fond du Lac Reservoir Public Water Access Site 5.3 mi · canoe launch
- Hay Lake Public Water Access Site 5.7 mi · boat launch · Hay
- St. Louis River, Fond du Lac (W) Public Water Access Site 6.5 mi · canoe launch
Public access sites near the dam, straight-line distance. A dam itself is private property unless its owner says otherwise; these are the places the state lists as open.
Fly shops nearby
- Southside Bait & Tackle 14.9 mi
- Sportsman's Choice 16.0 mi
- The Bait Box 18.7 mi