Spring arrives on the Upper Mississippi River as first tows reach St. Paul, MN

HASTINGS, Minn. – The Motor Vessel Crockett is locked through Lock and Dam 2, in Hastings, Minnesota, March 23. The tow was the first to arrive amid the unofficial start of the 2026 navigation season. The average first tow arrives in St. Paul, Minnesota, around the third week in March. The Motor Vessel Neil N. Diehl was the first tow of the 2025 navigation season to reach St. Paul. She arrived March 20, 2025. The earliest date for a tow to reach St. Paul occurred March 4. It happened in 1983, 1984 and 2000. The St. Paul District maintains the Mississippi River 9-foot navigation channel and operates 12 locks and dams to support river traffic from the Twin Cities to Guttenberg, Iowa.