BirdTrout
Johnson Creek, Minnesota
13.9 mapped river miles, draining 39 square miles, in the Clearwater Elk basin watershed. No gauge stands in it; the nearest is 21.6 miles away, and it is the only temperature evidence on this page — what Minnesota DNR publishes is the Chapter 6264 listing below — a land-use protection under Minnesota Rules, not a thermometer.
50°F and colder is cold, through cold-transitional and cool, to warm above 70°F — the same four bands, breaking at 58, 64 and 70°F, that the app paints. Grey is water nobody has measured.
The nearest live reading
The nearest gauge is 25.9 miles away, at Elk River Near Big Lake — not a reading of this water, but of what the region is doing today. A closer gauge has stopped reporting — USGS carries no water-temperature series for it at all, so no number here comes from it.
The pills above go to USGS. These are this site's pages for the same gauges — a thirty-day chart, the monthly means, the record, and today's reading against the five-year normal for today: 05268700.
Thermal classification
There isn't one. Minnesota DNR publishes no temperature classification for any water in Minnesota. What it publishes is the Chapter 6264 listing below — a land-use protection under Minnesota Rules, not a thermometer — so this river draws grey on the map above, and grey here means unmeasured rather than warm. The only temperature on this page is the live reading from the nearest USGS gauge, 21.6 miles away; it is a reading of that water, not this one.
Questions about this river
- Johnson Creek fishing report — what it reads right now
- How to get to Johnson Creek — access, parking and public land
- Johnson Creek fishing regulations — season, size and gear by reach
MN DNR trout stream designation
MN DNR lists Johnson Creek under Minnesota Rules Chapter 6264 as designated trout stream. Chapter 6264 is a land-use rule — its stated purpose is timber harvest and watershed permitting, with recreation second. It is not the season and creel rules, which change yearly and live with the agency, and it is not a statement about temperature.
MN DNR designated trout streams →
Public land on the river
1 unit of public or open-access land touches this river, 19 acres in total. Acreage is the whole unit, not the part beside the water.
| Unit | Owner | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| Kiffmeyer Park | city land | 19 |
Species
Minnesota DNR designates this as trout water — Designated trout stream — without naming the species. No fish survey or stocking record for this water is in the files this site reads.
Tributaries and watershed
Johnson Creek sits in HUC 8 07010203, the Clearwater Elk basin, and drains 39 square miles, Strahler order 4 at the mouth. 11 NHD reaches carry the name for 14.0 miles in total — more than the 13.9 miles of drawn mainstem, because NHD counts side channels and braids as their own reaches.
Other water nearby
The closest 4 rivers on this site, straight-line from the middle of this one — not drive time.