Raccoon River

The Raccoon River at Van Meter

Map of the Raccoon River watershed

The Raccoon River as viewed upstream from its mouth in Des Moines. Principal Park is at right.

The Raccoon River is a tributary of the Des Moines River in central Iowa in the United States. As measured from the longest of its three forks, it is 200 mi (322 km) long. Via the Des Moines River, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River.

During the Great Flood of 1993, the Raccoon River flooded the water treatment facility of Des Moines, shutting off the city's supply of drinking water.

[edit] Course

The Raccoon River flows for much of its length as three streams:

The North Raccoon River is substantially the longest of the three. It rises north of Marathon in northeastern Buena Vista County and initially flows southwardly into Sac County, where it turns southeastward for the remainder of its course through Calhoun, Carroll, Greene and Dallas Counties. It passes the towns of Sac City, Jefferson, Perry and Adel.
The South Raccoon River, about 50 mi (80 km) long, rises in northeastern Audubon County and flows generally southeastwardly through Guthrie and Dallas Counties, past the town of Guthrie Center.
The Middle Raccoon River, 76 mi (122 km) long, rises in northwestern Carroll County and flows generally southeastwardly through Guthrie and Dallas Counties, past Carroll, Coon Rapids, Springbrook State Park, Panora and Redfield. A dam in Guthrie County causes the river to form Lake Panorama. It flows into the South Raccoon River about 1 mi (2 km) south of Redfield.

The north and south forks join in Dallas County just west of Van Meter, and the Raccoon River flows generally eastwardly into Polk County, past Walnut Woods State Park and West Des Moines. It joins the Des Moines River just south of downtown Des Moines.