Winnebago River

The Winnebago River is a 72-mile-long (116 km) river in northern Iowa. It is a tributary of the Shell Rock River, part of the Cedar River watershed that flows via the Iowa River to the Mississippi River. The Winnebago River rises in Winnebago County, Iowa north of Leland and flows south through Forest City, then east and southeast through Mason City on its way to the Shell Rock River at Rockford. Headwater tributaries of the Winnebago River extend north into southern Minnesota.

The river was alternately known as Lime Creek, but upon the fame of Meredith Willson's The Music Man, which has a mythical River City widely known to be based on his native Mason City, the locals felt compelled to promote their creek to a river. The U.S. Board on Geographic Names made "Winnebago River" the official name in a 1961 decision. It also runs trough Mason City Iowa