Cottonwood River (Minnesota)

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The Cottonwood River is a tributary of the Minnesota River in southwestern Minnesota. The river flows for 100 miles (161 kilometers) and drains a 1,284 square mile (3325 square kilometer) watershed in Lyon, Murray, Cottonwood, Redwood, and Brown counties. The Cottonwood River is longer, larger, and has a greater drainage area than the Redwood, Yellow Medicine, or Lac qui Parle Rivers (the Minnesota River's other three major tributaries running off the Coteau). The Cottonwood joins the Minnesota River near the city of New Ulm, Minnesota.

The source of the river is in the Coteau des Prairies, a morainal plateau in the marshes of Lyon County's Rock Lake. Most of the Coteau's wetlands have been drained and converted to cultivated fields. Approximately 84% of the watershed's land is used for agriculture.

The climate within the Cottonwood River Watershed is continental, with cold dry winters and warm wet summers.