Shell Rock River

The Shell Rock River is a 113-mile-long (182 km)^[3] tributary of the West Fork Cedar River in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa in the United States. Via the Cedar and Iowa rivers, it is part of the Mississippi River watershed.^[1]

Shell Rock River Shellrock River
Shell Rock River in Shell Rock, Iowa
Location of mouth
Location
Country	United States
States	Minnesota, Iowa
Counties (Minnesota)	Freeborn
Counties (Iowa)	Worth, Cerro Gordo, Floyd, Butler, Bremer, Black Hawk
Physical characteristics
Source	Albert Lea Lake
• location	Freeborn County, Minnesota
• coordinates	43.6116242°N 93.2935403°W / 43.6116242; -93.2935403[1]
Mouth	West Fork Cedar River
• location	Black Hawk County, Iowa
• coordinates	42.6341488°N 92.5012982°W / 42.6341488; -92.5012982
• elevation	869 ft (265 m)[1]
Length	113 miles (182 km)
Discharge
• location	Shell Rock, Iowa
• average	1,211 cu/ft. per sec.[2]
Basin features
Tributaries
• right	Winnebago River

Name

This river was named for the fossil shells found in outcroppings along its banks.^[4] The United States Board on Geographic Names settled on "Shell Rock River" as the stream's name in 1931. According to the Geographic Names Information System, it has also been known by the spelling "Shellrock River".^[1]

Course

The Shell Rock River flows from Albert Lea Lake in Freeborn County, Minnesota,^[5] and soon enters Iowa, flowing generally south-southeastwardly through eastern Worth, northeastern Cerro Gordo, western Floyd, northeastern Butler, southwestern Bremer and northwestern Black Hawk counties, past the town of Glenville in Minnesota and the towns of Northwood, Plymouth, Rock Falls, Nora Springs, Rockford, Marble Rock, Greene, Clarksville and Shell Rock in Iowa. It joins the West Fork of the Cedar River in Black Hawk County, about 6 miles (10 km) north-northwest of Cedar Falls. At Rockford, Iowa, it collects the Winnebago River from the west.^[6]

See also

• List of Iowa rivers
• List of Minnesota rivers