The 710 mile long James River rises in Wells County in central North Dakota, and enters South Dakota near Hecla to feed Mud Lake and Columbia Road Reservoirs, both of which are in the Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge. From there it flows south through the entire state past Redfield, Huron, and Mitchell, to empty into the Missouri River at Yankton.
The James is also known as the Jim River or the Dakota River.
