Did you know the U.S. has over 250,000 rivers? Find out how much you know about them with these fun United States rivers trivia questions and answers.
United States Rivers Trivia Questions
1. Which river became the new border between Mexico and the United States?
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The Rio Grande River.
2. What is the longest river in the United States?
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The Missouri River.
3. What is the largest river by volume in the United States?
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The Mississippi River.
4. What river flows backwards in the United States?
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The Chicago River.
5. What river goes through Nashville?
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The Cumberland River.
6. What is the deepest river in the United States?
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The Hudson River.
7. What river runs through Austin, Texas?
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The Colorado River.
8. Which river in the United States is known as Old Man River?
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The Mississippi River.
9. In what state does the Columbia River end?
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Oregon.
10. What Illinois city is well-known for dyeing their river green on St. Patrick’s Day?
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Chicago.
11. Which treaty gave the United States access to the Mississippi River and New Orleans for trade?
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The Treaty of San Lorenzo / Pinckney’s Treaty, 1795.
12. The term “going up the river” originally referred to which river whose banks host a famous prison?
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The Hudson River (the prison was Sing Sing prison).
13. What river runs through Chicago?
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The Chicago River.
14. In what state does the Missouri River start?
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Montana.
15. What river features Horseshoe Bend?
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The Colorado River.
16. In days, how long does it take for water to travel the length of the Mississippi River?
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90 days.
17. In which mountain range does the Chattahoochee River start?
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The Blue Ridge Mountains.
18. How many states does the Mississippi River run through (a bonus point for naming them all!)?
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Ten states: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
19. The majority of the lower Potomac River lies in which state?
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Maryland.
20. On January 15, 2009, Captain Chesley Sullenberger landed a plane in the Hudson River after hitting a flock of which bird?
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Canada geese.
21. What natural disaster caused the Mississippi River to flow backwards in 1811?
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A series of earthquakes.
22. What river runs through Philadelphia?
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The Delaware River.
23. Which 17th century French explorer famously sailed down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico?
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Rene Robert Cavelier de La Salle.
24. What river feeds Lake Mead?
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The Colorado River.
25. Which river’s name comes from the Seneca for “Good River”?
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The Ohio River.
26. People from which nation were the first European settlers of the Hudson River Valley?
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The Netherlands (i.e. Dutch people).
27. In what state does the Arkansas River start?
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Colorado.
28. What river is the Statue of Liberty on?
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The Hudson River.
29. Which river was most traveled by Lewis and Clark during the exploration of the Louisiana Territory?
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The Missouri River.
30. What river forms the border between Indiana and Kentucky?
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The Ohio River.
31. What river was the first National River to be designated in the United States?
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The Buffalo River.
32. In which state does the Suwannee River begin?
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Georgia.
33. The Red River acts as the border between which two states?
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Texas and Oklahoma.
34. What river was the movie Deliverance filmed on?
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The Chattooga River.
35. Which U.S. president liked to skinny-dip in the Potomac River at 5 a.m.?
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John Quincy Adams.
36. The Mississippi River ends in which ocean basin?
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The Gulf of Mexico.
37. Which two rivers join together at the Forks of the Ohio?
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The Allegheny River and the Monongahela River.
38. Which Civil War battle resulted in the Union gaining strategic control of the Mississippi River?
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The Siege of Vicksburg.
39. The Colorado River flows through how many U.S. states (a bonus point for naming them all!)?
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Seven states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.
40. What river does the Yellowstone River flow into?
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The Missouri River.
American Rivers Trivia Quiz
If you enjoyed these trivia questions about United States rivers, be sure to check out the rest of LaffGaff for lots more great free trivia questions and answers, such as these:
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