The Kickapoo River watershed covers four counties in Wisconsin: Monroe, Vernon, Richland, and Crawford. The river flows through many towns from Wilton to Wauzeka on its way to the Wisconsin River, and its tributaries cover over 500 miles. This winding river lives up to its name, an Algonquin term meaning "That which goes here, then there." In this 65-mile-long valley, the Kickapoo travels 125 miles. Glaciers, which left deposits of soil and rock called drift in much of Wisconsin, did not reach the area around the Kickapoo River. Sandstone hills covered with hard dolomite, formed 500 million years ago by early Cambrian seas, are still visible in this region known as the Driftless Area. Because it was never covered by ice, life here continued more or less uninterrupted, and the Driftless Area has 34 species of plants found only here.