Waterloo Creek is a 9.7 miles (15.6 km) tributary of the Upper Iowa River

Upper Iowa River

The Upper Iowa River is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the upper Midwest of the United States.Its headwaters are in southeastern Minnesota, in Mower County near the border with Iowa. It then flows through the Iowa counties of Howard, Winneshiek, and Allamakee, and finally into the Upper...

, with a watershed covering 48.3 square miles (125.1 km²). It rises as Bee Creek in Houston County

Houston County, Minnesota

As of the census of 2000, there were 19,718 people, 7,633 households, and 5,411 families residing in the county. The population density was 35 people per square mile . There were 8,168 housing units at an average density of 15 per square mile...

, Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

, southwest of the city of Spring Grove

Spring Grove, Minnesota

Spring Grove is a city in Houston County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 1,330 at the 2010 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land...

, flowing generally in a southeasterly direction, crossing into Waterloo Township in Allamakee County

Allamakee County, Iowa

-2010 census:The 2010 census recorded a population of 14,330 in the county, with a population density of . There were 7,617 housing units, of which 5,845 were occupied.-2000 census:...

, Iowa

Iowa

Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

, where it becomes Waterloo Creek and takes a generally north-south route to its confluence with Bear Creek, just before entering the Upper Iowa River. Iowa Highway 76

Iowa Highway 76

Iowa Highway 76 is a state highway located in northeastern Iowa, most of which is in Allamakee County. The long highway connects McGregor to Eitzen, Minnesota via Waukon. It begins in McGregor at an intersection with U.S. Route 18; the first of the route are signed as U.S. Route 18 Business...

 parallels the stream until crossing the river. The virtual ghost town of Dorchester, Iowa

Dorchester, Iowa

Dorchester is an unincorporated community in northwestern Allamakee County, Iowa, United States. It lies along local roads just off Iowa Highway 76, north of the city of Waukon, the county seat of Allamakee County. Its elevation is 738 feet . Although Dorchester is unincorporated, it has a...

is the only settlement alongside it.

The creek is rated as one of the best trout fishing streams in Iowa. In recent years, substantial restoration work on the creek has been accomplished, removing invasive non-native planting and restoring the original meanderings of spring-fed brooks.

Sources

• Upper Iowa River statistics (retrieved 31 March 2007)
• Environmental Protection Agency (retrieved 31 March 2007)
• Iowa Department of Natural Resources (retrieved 31 March 2007)
• Trout Unlimited (retrieved 31 March 2007)
• Waterloo Township (excellent maps) (retrieved 31 March 2007)
• Dorchester, Iowa (retrieved 31 March 2007)
• Upper Midwest Flyfishing (retrieved 31 March 2007)
• Iowa Department of Transportation (retrieved 31 March 2007)
• TopoQuest topographic map (retrieved 5 July 2008)