Upper Iowa River
| Upper Iowa River | |
| Oneota River | |
| River | |
 Mouth of the Upper Iowa at floodstage, January 18, 2001, looking approximately west
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| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | Iowa |
| Districts | Allamakee County, Iowa, Winneshiek County, Iowa, Howard County, Iowa, Fillmore County, Minnesota, Mower County, Minnesota |
| Source | |
| - coordinates | 43°37′16″N 92°37′23″W / 43.621°N 92.623°W |
| Mouth | Mississippi River |
| - elevation | 620 ft (189 m) |
| - coordinates | 43°27′58″N 91°14′02″W / 43.466°N 91.234°WCoordinates: 43°27′58″N 91°14′02″W / 43.466°N 91.234°W |
| Length | 156 mi (251 km) |
 Catchment of the Upper Iowa River (EPA)
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| U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Upper Iowa River | |
The Upper Iowa River is a 156-mile-long (251 km) tributary of the Mississippi River in the upper Midwest of the United States.
Its headwaters are in southeastern Minnesota, in Mower County (Le Roy and Lodi townships) near the border with Iowa. It then flows through the Iowa counties of Howard, Winneshiek, and Allamakee, and finally into the Upper Mississippi River. Along its course, it passes through the Iowa cities of Chester, Lime Springs, Florenceville, Kendallville, Bluffton, and Decorah. Its watershed comprises nearly 641,000 acres (2,590 km2).
The Upper Iowa and its tributaries are part of the Driftless Area of Iowa, a region that was ice-free during the last ice age. Unlike areas to the south and west, the area was not planed down by glaciation or covered in glacial drift, with the result that there are steep, high-walled canyons that little resembles what one normally sees in Iowa rivers in the western and southern regions of the state. The lack of any serious development makes this the only river in Iowa eligible for designation as a National Wild and Scenic River. It has not yet attained this status, partly because much of the land and the riverbottom itself are privately owned.
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