page_title: Des Moines River
section_title: Cities and towns
hierarchical_section_title: Des Moines River / Cities and towns
caption_attribution_description: English: The West Fork of the Des Moines River runs through a backyard on 8th Street in Humboldt, as fog rises after a rain storm
context_page_description: The Des Moines River is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the upper Midwestern United States that is approximately 525 miles 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 near the capital city of Des Moines, named after the river, in the center of the state. The river continues to flow at a southeastern direction away from Des Moines, later flowing directly into the Mississippi River.
  The Des Moines River forms a short portion of Iowa's border with Missouri in Lee County. The Avenue of the Saints, a four-lane highway from St. Paul, Minnesota to St. Louis, Missouri, passes over this section; the highway is designated Route 27 in both Iowa and Missouri, and was completed in the early 21st century.
context_section_description: Algona, Iowa (East Fork)
  Armstrong, Iowa (East Fork)
  Bonaparte, Iowa
  Bradgate, Iowa (West Fork)
  Chillicothe, Iowa
  Currie, Minnesota
  Dakota City, Iowa (East Fork)
  Des Moines, Iowa
  Douds, Iowa
  Eddyville, Iowa
  Eldon, Iowa
  Emmetsburg, Iowa (West Fork)
  Estherville, Iowa (West Fork)
  Farmington, Iowa
  Fort Dodge, Iowa
  Fraser, Iowa
   
  Graettinger, Iowa (West Fork)
  Humboldt, Iowa (West Fork)
  Irvington, Iowa (East Fork)
  Jackson, Minnesota
  Johnston, Iowa
  Keokuk, Iowa
  Keosauqua, Iowa
  Leando, Iowa
  Lehigh, Iowa
  Livermore, Iowa (East Fork)
  Ottumwa, Iowa
  Petersburg, Minnesota (West Fork)
  Rutland, Iowa (West Fork)
  St. Joseph, Iowa (East Fork)
  Windom, Minnesota
caption: West Fork Des Moines River at Humboldt
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