About this river
Des Plaines River is a 19.7 mile stream near Waukegan Harbor & Marina in Illinois. Streamflow is measured at the USGS gauge Des Plaines River near Gurnee, IL (site 05528000). The National Hydrography Dataset places it at stream order 4. Reach geometry comes from the USGS National Hydrography Dataset.
Typical flow by month
1977 to 2026
Des Plaines River typically runs highest in March, at a median 383 cfs, and lowest in October, at 59 cfs. The highest flow on record for any single day is 3,810 cfs, in 2004.
| Month | Typical (cfs) | Usual range (cfs) | Relative level |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 121 | 71 to 211 | |
| February | 130 | 69 to 328 | |
| March | 383 | 227 to 618 | |
| April | 363 | 202 to 725 | |
| May | 229 | 123 to 427 | |
| June | 143 | 79 to 329 | |
| July | 82 | 51 to 198 | |
| August | 68 | 46 to 112 | |
| September | 60 | 43 to 128 | |
| October | 59 | 43 to 132 | |
| November | 97 | 64 to 214 | |
| December | 137 | 72 to 282 |
Typical is the median of each month’s daily median values, and the usual range runs from the median 25th to the median 75th percentile, across about 50 years of record. Statistics published by the US Geological Survey for Des Plaines River near Gurnee, IL (site 05528000). Conditions on any given day can fall well outside the usual range. Check the current reading before you go.
Boat access nearby
2 mapped launches sit in the mapped area of Des Plaines River, all of them public access. Ramp data comes from the USGS national boat-ramp inventory.
Embed this gauge on your site
Paste this snippet anywhere, an outfitter page, a club site, a trip report, to show Des Plaines River's live streamflow, water level and 7-day trend. It reads the USGS gauge directly, updates itself, and links back here.
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