Little River (St. Francis River)

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For other uses, see Little River.

Map of the St. Francis River watershed showing Little River. The Castor/Whitewater headwaters (darker shade on the map) were historically part of the St. Francis watershed via Little River but are now diverted to the Mississippi.

The Little River is a tributary of the St. Francis River, about 70 mi (115 km) long, in southeastern Missouri and northeastern Arkansas in the United States. Via the St. Francis, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River.

The Little River's upper course in Missouri has been greatly altered by channelization practices. It originally collected the waters of the Castor and Whitewater Rivers, but these streams' outlets have been diverted to the Mississippi River by the Headwater Diversion Channel and other drainage systems, and the Little River's course through the Missouri bootheel has been diverted to a canal, though traces of its original course still exist. In Arkansas the river passes through the Big Lake National Wildlife Refuge and joins the St. Francis River at Marked Tree.