| Official Name: | French River |
| Settlement Type: | Unincorporated community |
| Pushpin Map: | Minnesota |
| Pushpin Label: | French River |
| Pushpin Label Position: | left |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Minnesota |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Saint Louis |
| Subdivision Type3: | Township |
| Subdivision Name3: | Duluth Township |
| Population Total: | 110 |
| Timezone: | Central (CST) |
| Utc Offset: | -6 |
| Timezone Dst: | CDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -5 |
| Elevation Ft: | 650 |
| Coordinates: | 46.8981°N -91.8972°W |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP code |
| Postal Code: | 55804 |
| Area Code: | 218 |
| Blank Name: | GNIS feature ID |
| Blank Info: | 661327 |
French River is an unincorporated community in Duluth Township, Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States; located on the North Shore of Lake Superior.
The community is located 13 miles northeast of the city of Duluth, at the junction of North Shore Scenic Drive (County 61) and Ryan Road (County Road 50).
French River had also been known by the name Clifton during the early settlement years. Clifton, the first townsite surveyed in the United States section of the North Shore, was platted west of the mouth of the French River in 1855. The river was known to early explorers as and to the Ojibwe as, meaning 'Floodwood River'.[1] Rumors of nearby copper deposits resulted in widespread prospecting and townsite planning in the 1850s. Like many of the projected towns, Clifton never developed. From 1864 to 1866, the French River Mining Company and the North Shore Mining Company dug several exploratory shafts, but failed to locate profitable copper deposits. Extensive lumbering operations were carried on in the vicinity during the 1880s.[2]