Skip to content
EntityQ492787· pop 31· linked from 408 articles

Des Moines River

Sign in to save

river in the central United States

Key facts

Country
United States
State
Iowa , Minnesota , Missouri
Source
Lake Shetek
Location
Murray County, Minnesota
Coordinates
44°05′02″N 95°41′17″W / 44.0839°N 95.6881°W / 44.0839; -95.6881
Elevation
1,483 ft (452 m)
Mouth
Mississippi River
Length
525 mi (845 km)
Basin size
14,802 sq mi (38,340 km )
Average
13,223 cu/ft. per sec.

via Wikipedia infobox

~7 min read

Encyclopedic overview

The Des Moines River (/dəˈmɔɪn/ ) is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the upper Midwestern United States that is approximately 525 miles (845 km) long from its farther headwaters. The largest river flowing across the state of Iowa, it rises in southern Minnesota and flows across Iowa from northwest to southeast, passing from the glaciated plains into the unglaciated hills, transitioning near the capital city of Des Moines in the center of the state. The river continues to flow in a southeastern direction away from Des Moines, flowing directly into the Mississippi River. The Des Moines River forms a short portion of Iowa's border with Missouri between Lee County, Iowa and Clark County, Missouri.

The city of Des Moines, Iowa, was named for the river.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Des Moines River” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

On the map

2 mapped locations