The Maquoketa River () is a tributary of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed May 13, 2011 in northeastern

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Its watershed covers "Evaluating Agricultural Nonpoint Loadings on Pool 13 from Maquoketa River Watershed, Iowa"

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an government agency, agency of the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geograp ...

, Retrieved July 18, 2007 within a rural region of rolling hills and

farmland Agricultural land is typically land ''devoted to'' agriculture, the systematic and controlled use of other forms of lifeparticularly the rearing of livestock and production of cropsto produce food for humans. It is generally synonymous with bot ...

southwest of

Dubuque Dubuque (, ) is a city in Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 59,667 at the 2020 United States census. The city lies along the Mississippi River at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a region ...

. The river and its tributaries mark the border of the

Driftless Area The Driftless Area, also known as Bluff Country and the Paleozoic Plateau, is a topographic and cultural region in the Midwestern United States that comprises southwestern Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota, northeastern Iowa, and the extreme ...

of Iowa, with the areas east of it not having been covered by ice during the last

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...

. Its name derives from ''Maquaw-Autaw'', which means "Bear River" in

Meskwaki The Meskwaki (sometimes spelled Mesquaki), also known by the European exonyms Fox Indians or the Fox, are a Native American people. They have been closely linked to the Sauk people of the same language family. In the Meskwaki language, th ...

Course

The Maquoketa rises in southeastern Fayette County just southwest of Arlington in Fairfield Township, and approximately east of Oelwein. It flows briefly northeastward, then generally southeastward through Clayton,

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

, Jones and Jackson Counties, through Backbone State Park and the towns of

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

and

Monticello Monticello ( ) was the primary residence and plantation of Thomas Jefferson, a Founding Father, author of the Declaration of Independence, and the third president of the United States. Jefferson began designing Monticello after inheriting l ...

. At Maquoketa, it receives the North Fork Maquoketa River from the north; the North Fork rises in northern

Dubuque County Dubuque County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 99,266, making it the eighth-most populous county in Iowa. The county seat is Dubuque, Io ...

and flows generally southward past Dyersville and

Cascade Cascade, or Cascading may refer to: Science and technology Science * Air shower (physics), a cascade (particle shower) of subatomic particles and ionized nuclei ** Particle shower, a cascade of secondary particles produced as the result of a high ...

. The Maquoketa then flows generally eastward in a

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the Channel (geography), channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erosion, erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank (cut bank, cut bank or river cl ...

ing 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. The river is considered one of the best smallmouth

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

and

trout Trout (: trout) is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the ...

fisheries in Iowa.

Dams

There are four small dams on the river: * Delhi Dam (the

terms it, Hartwick Dam) impounds Lake Delhi downriver from

in Delaware County. On Saturday July 24, 2010, the dam at Lake Delhi failed due to heavy rains and the rapid rise of the Maquoketa River. The dam has since been reconstructed. * The Mon-Maq dam in Jones County just east of

was once used to generate power for the town and is now a candidate for dam removal * The Backbone Lake dam in Backbone State Park. * The Lakehurst dam at Maquoketa.

Recreation

The stretch of river from just below the Mon-Maq dam to Iowa Highway 136 is one of Iowa's most popular canoe trips. Along much of this stretch, the river flows through a canyon bounded by steep cliffs of

Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 23.5 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the third and shortest period of t ...

dolomite. Large tracts of surrounding land are open to the public, including the Pictured Rocks Wildlife Management Area (1,138 acres, cooperatively managed by Jones County and the Iowa DNR, and the Indian Bluffs Primitive Area State Preserve (845 acres, privately owned, managed by the Iowa DNR). The canyon walls in Pictured Rocks make it one of the most popular rock climbing areas in Eastern Iowa, with numerous routs and pre-set anchors for climbing ropes; the highest rock face is 75 feet (23m).Pictured Rocks Rock Climbing
the Mountain Project, retrieved Feb. 15, 2017. Maquoketa Caves State Park, a few miles upstream from Maquoketa protects a segment of the Driftless Area's

karst topography Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...

, characterized by

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

ice caves An ice cave is any type of natural cave (most commonly lava tubes or limestone caves) that contains significant amounts of perennial (year-round) ice. At least a portion of the cave must have a temperature below 0 °C (32 °F) all ye ...

and

sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are also known as shakeholes, and to openings where surface water ...

References

External links

*
Univ. of Iowa: Bass on the MaquoketaSmallmouth bass
Retrieved July 18, 2007

{{authority control Rivers of Iowa Tributaries of the Mississippi River Driftless Area Rivers of Fayette County, Iowa Rivers of Clayton County, Iowa Rivers of Delaware County, Iowa Rivers of Jones County, Iowa Rivers of Jackson County, Iowa

Course

Dams

Recreation

See also

References

External links