<P> The Missouri River officially starts at the confluence of the Jefferson and Madison in Missouri Headwaters State Park near Three Forks , Montana , and is joined by the Gallatin a mile ( 1.6 km ) downstream . The Missouri then passes through Canyon Ferry Lake , a reservoir west of the Big Belt Mountains . Issuing from the mountains near Cascade , the river flows northeast to the city of Great Falls , where it drops over the Great Falls of the Missouri , a series of five substantial waterfalls . It then winds east through a scenic region of canyons and badlands known as the Missouri Breaks , receiving the Marias River from the west then widening into the Fort Peck Lake reservoir a few miles above the confluence with the Musselshell River . Farther on , the river passes through the Fort Peck Dam , and immediately downstream , the Milk River joins from the north . </P>
<P> The Missouri River officially starts at the confluence of the Jefferson and Madison in Missouri Headwaters State Park near Three Forks , Montana , and is joined by the Gallatin a mile ( 1.6 km ) downstream . The Missouri then passes through Canyon Ferry Lake , a reservoir west of the Big Belt Mountains . Issuing from the mountains near Cascade , the river flows northeast to the city of Great Falls , where it drops over the Great Falls of the Missouri , a series of five substantial waterfalls . It then winds east through a scenic region of canyons and badlands known as the Missouri Breaks , receiving the Marias River from the west then widening into the Fort Peck Lake reservoir a few miles above the confluence with the Musselshell River . Farther on , the river passes through the Fort Peck Dam , and immediately downstream , the Milk River joins from the north . </P>
where are the headwaters of the missouri river located
where are the headwaters of the missouri river located
at the confluence of the Jefferson and Madison in Missouri Headwaters State Park near Three Forks , Montana
at the confluence of the Jefferson and Madison in Missouri Headwaters State Park near Three Forks , Montana