facing north and the Peace Bridge. The river enters Illinois where it widens into a large area of interconnected lakes known as the
Chain O'Lakes.
Fox Lake is the largest village in this area. From the chain, the river flows generally southward for ,
Native American tribes that lived near the Fox River included the
Potawatomi,
Sauk and
Meskwaki tribes. The Fox River has 15 dams, including
McHenry Dam, which raises the river slightly to maintain depth in the
Chain O'Lakes in northern Illinois, the
Montgomery Dam and the Dayton Dam, a hydroelectric dam near Ottawa. In September 2023, the
United States Army Corps of Engineers issued a draft report recommending the
removal of nine of these dams for environmental reasons. In the winter, bald eagles can be found nesting along the banks. Early in the history of Illinois, the Fox River provided water for the
Illinois and Michigan Canal via a feeder canal, allowing the canal to pass over the Fox River on an aqueduct. The Fox River watershed encompasses in Illinois. ==See also==