Maquoketa River

Maquoketa River
River
The North Fork of the Maquoketa River at Dyersville, Iowa in 1996
Country	United States
State	Iowa
Source
- coordinates	42°43′08″N 91°42′39″W / 42.7189°N 91.7107°W / 42.7189; -91.7107
Source confluence
- coordinates	42°11′18″N 90°18′35″W / 42.1883°N 90.3096°W / 42.1883; -90.3096
Mouth	Mississippi River
- elevation	591 ft (180 m)
Length	150 mi (241 km)
Maquoketa River highlighted
U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Maquoketa River

The Maquoketa River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 150 miles (240 km) long, in northeastern Iowa in the United States. Its watershed covers 1,694 square miles (4,387 km²) within a rural region of rolling hills and farmland southwest of Dubuque. It is not to be confused with the Little Maquoketa River, another distinct direct tributary of the Upper Mississippi River meeting the Big River north of Dubuque. The river and its tributaries mark the border of the Driftless Area of Iowa, with the areas east of it not having been covered by ice during the last ice age.

The Maquoketa rises in southeastern Fayette County just southwest of Arlington in Fairfield Township, and approximately 10 miles (16 km) west of Oelwein. It flows briefly northeastward, then generally southeastward through Clayton, Delaware, Jones and Jackson Counties, through Backbone State Park and the towns of Dundee, Manchester and Monticello.

At Maquoketa, it receives the North Fork Maquoketa River from the north; the North Fork rises in northern Dubuque County and flows 96 miles (154 km) generally southward past Dyersville and Cascade. The Maquoketa then flows generally eastward in a meandering course as it approaches the Mississippi. It enters Pool 13 of the Mississippi from the southwest in eastern Jackson County a few miles upstream from Sabula approximately 30 mi (48 km) southeast of Dubuque.