Turkey River (Iowa)

Turkey River
Keystone Bridge in Elkader
Turkey River watershed
Location
CountryUS
StateIowa
DistrictClayton County, Iowa, Fayette County, Iowa, Winneshiek County, Iowa, Howard County, Iowa
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • coordinates43°20′31″N 92°18′40″W / 43.342°N 92.311°W / 43.342; -92.311
MouthMississippi River
 • coordinates
42°43′03″N 91°00′43″W / 42.71750°N 91.01194°W / 42.71750; -91.01194
 • elevation
607 ft (185 m)[1]
Discharge 
 • locationGarber, Iowa [2]
 • average1,108 cu/ft. per sec.
Basin features
Tributaries 
 • leftRoberts Creek
 • rightVolga River, Little Turkey River
[1]

The Turkey River is a 153-mile-long (246 km)[3] tributary of the upper Mississippi River. Its main branch rises in Howard County, Iowa, near the city of Cresco. The other counties it or its tributaries cover are Chickasaw, Winneshiek, Fayette, Clayton, Delaware, and Dubuque. Tributaries include the Little Turkey River and Crane Creek.

Flowing from northwest to southeast, it flows through or near the cities of Spillville, Fort Atkinson, Eldorado (where it joins with the Little Turkey River), Clermont, Elgin, Elkader, Elkport, Garber, and Millville, before entering the Mississippi south of Guttenberg and across from Cassville, Wisconsin. At its mouth is the community of Turkey River, Iowa, which is named after the river.

The watershed covers 1,083,200 acres (4,384 km2).

  1. ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Turkey River
  2. ^ USGS data
  3. ^ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed May 13, 2011