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Home › Waters › Iowa › Cedar River
River · Eastern Iowa · Iowa

Cedar River Fishing Guides

Eastern Iowa's best smallmouth and walleye river, running from Minnesota through Waverly, Waterloo and Cedar Rapids on a rock and gravel bed with good float access the whole way.

A braided prairie river running past a raw cut bank

Map of the Cedar River

44 numbered points: 6 access points, 2 campsites, 13 bridges, 19 parks and conservation areas, 1 USGS gauge, 3 points of interest. Tap a marker for details. Reviewed Oct 23, 2026.

Printable version →
  • Access / boat ramp (6)
  • Campsite (2)
  • Bridge crossing (13)
  • Park / conservation area (19)
  • USGS gauge (1)
  • Point of interest (3)
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Points are curated from OpenStreetMap and state agency sources; confirm access and hours before you go.

Print it. Bag it. Bring it.Phones die, screens crack, and most of this water has no signal. Print this map, fold it into a zip-top bag or dry bag with your license, and you have a backup your electronics can’t give you. Every marker is numbered so you can say exactly where you are.

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All 44 points on this map
#PointTypeLat, LonNotes
1Cedar River Access Area
La Porte City		Access / boat ramp42.32579, -92.14564County access at the McFarlane Park cluster; first mapped access on this reach.
2Mt. Auburn Boat Launch
Mt. Auburn		Access / boat ramp42.29557, -92.05925Concrete ramp.
3Milroy Access Area
Benton County		Access / boat ramp42.18368, -92.00722Bank access above Vinton.
4Hoefle Dulin Access
Benton County		Access / boat ramp42.16418, -91.97853Ramp at Hoefle-Dulin Recreation Area.
5Wildcat Bluff Access
Benton County		Access / boat ramp42.19022, -91.88277Ramp below Wildcat Bluff.
6Ellis Harbor
Cedar Rapids		Access / boat ramp42.00366, -91.69315Boat harbour and ramp at Ellis Park.
7McFarlane County Park Campground
La Porte City		Campsite42.32184, -92.14841Benton County campground at the access.
8Palisades-Kepler State Park Campground
Mount Vernon		Campsite41.90797, -91.50973State park campground above the dam.
9Five-in-One Dam
Cedar Rapids		Point of interest41.97873, -91.67261Low-head dam through downtown; portage.
10Cedar Rapids Milldam
Cedar Rapids		Point of interest41.94433, -91.63022Weir below the city.
11Palisades-Kepler Dam
Palisades-Kepler State Park		Point of interest41.90131, -91.50704Weir at the state park.
12Cedar Island Wildlife Management Area
Iowa DNR		Park / conservation area42.30272, -92.12656Public bottomland on river left.
13Spring Creek Flats
Iowa DNR		Park / conservation area42.31596, -92.11174Wildlife area on the east bank.
14Winegar Lake - Tobin Area
Iowa DNR		Park / conservation area42.29207, -92.04621Oxbow and wildlife area.
15Cedar Bend Park
Vinton		Park / conservation area42.17415, -92.01634Riverside city park at Vinton.
16Cumberland's Recreation Area
Benton County		Park / conservation area42.18174, -92.01862County conservation area.
17County Care Facility Wildlife Area
Benton County		Park / conservation area42.15752, -91.99142County wildlife area.
18Butterfield Island Wildlife Area
Benton County		Park / conservation area42.16778, -91.97613Island wildlife area.
19Benton City Fry Recreation Area
Benton County		Park / conservation area42.16167, -91.91840County recreation area.
20North Cedar Natural Area
Linn County		Park / conservation area42.16016, -91.80098County natural area.
21Goose Pond Natural Area
Linn County		Park / conservation area42.14560, -91.80221Backwater natural area.
22Wickiup Hill Natural Area
Linn County		Park / conservation area42.09424, -91.76691Learning centre and natural area.
23Chain Lakes Natural Area
Linn County		Park / conservation area42.04947, -91.77460Chain Lakes backwaters.
24Rock Island Botanical Preserve
Linn County		Park / conservation area42.03077, -91.73817Sand prairie preserve.
25Seminole Valley Park
Cedar Rapids		Park / conservation area42.00534, -91.73013Large riverside park.
26Riverfront Park
Cedar Rapids		Park / conservation area41.97763, -91.67195Downtown riverfront, river right.
27Prairie Park
Cedar Rapids		Park / conservation area41.95292, -91.63078Prairie Park Fishery.
28Winnebago Park
Cedar Rapids		Park / conservation area41.94430, -91.62096Riverside natural area.
29Palisades-Kepler State Park
Mount Vernon		Park / conservation area41.90969, -91.50500Limestone bluffs; the marquee stop on this reach.
30Palisades-Dows Preserve
Linn County		Park / conservation area41.90226, -91.51667Preserve below the state park.
31Cedar Valley Nature Trail bridge
La Porte City		Bridge crossing42.31555, -92.13391Rail-trail crossing.
3222nd Avenue bridge
Mt. Auburn		Bridge crossing42.29352, -92.05930
3324th Avenue Drive bridge
Vinton		Bridge crossing42.17091, -92.02372
3432nd Avenue bridge
Benton County		Bridge crossing42.18677, -91.87235
35Blairs Ferry Road bridge
Palo		Bridge crossing42.06922, -91.78497
36Chain Lakes Bridge
Linn County		Bridge crossing42.05022, -91.77554Footbridge at the natural area.
37IA 100 bridge
Cedar Rapids		Bridge crossing42.02789, -91.74092
38Edgewood Road bridge
Cedar Rapids		Bridge crossing42.01145, -91.70511
391st Avenue Bridge
Cedar Rapids		Bridge crossing41.97725, -91.67155Downtown; above the Five-in-One dam.
403rd Avenue Bridge
Cedar Rapids		Bridge crossing41.97582, -91.66914
418th Avenue bridge
Cedar Rapids		Bridge crossing41.97167, -91.66486
4216th Avenue bridge
Cedar Rapids		Bridge crossing41.96649, -91.65944
43Lincoln Freeway bridge
Linn County		Bridge crossing41.92615, -91.55057
44USGS 05464500 Cedar River at Cedar Rapids
USGS streamgauge		USGS gauge41.97190, -91.66710Live stage and discharge.

Guides on the Cedar River

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About the Cedar River

The Cedar River enters Iowa from southern Minnesota and runs southeast through Charles City, Waverly, Waterloo, Vinton and Cedar Rapids before joining the Iowa River near Columbus Junction. It is one of the few large Iowa rivers with a genuinely rocky bed – limestone ledge, cobble and gravel through much of its middle reach – and that geology is why it fishes so much better than the sand-bottomed rivers of the western half of the state. Low-head dams through the towns break the river into segments, and several have been modified or removed in recent years, improving both passage and paddling safety.

Smallmouth bass are the headline. The reach from Charles City down through Waverly and Waterloo is legitimately good smallmouth water by any regional standard, with fish holding on every rock ledge and current break. Walleye are abundant and are the reason a large share of local anglers are on the water at all, concentrated below the dams in spring and spread through the deeper runs the rest of the year. Channel catfish are everywhere and heavily fished, flathead catfish reach substantial size in the deeper holes, and northern pike hold in the backwaters and slower side channels.

Access is easy and public. City parks, county conservation board areas and state access points are spaced closely enough that float segments of five to ten miles are simple to plan, and the river is well suited to canoes, kayaks and small jon boats. The Cedar Valley Nature Trail parallels a long stretch and opens up bank access. The Cedar Rapids gauge reads discharge and stage and is the standard reference for the lower river; its water temperature series has not reported since 2012, so temperature is not available here.

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Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
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  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Flow alert

Tell me when the Cedar River cfs

Now: 5,360 cfs, read 7:00 am CST, Mon Nov 2, 2026 (USGS 05464500, Cedar River at Cedar Rapids, IA).

We never use this address for anything else and never share it. See the privacy policy.

Access

Cedar Rapids - city park and boat ramp access near the gauge, serving the lower river through and below town.
Waterloo and Cedar Falls - multiple ramps and park accesses, and the closest good smallmouth water to the metro area.
Waverly - the usual put-in for the upper float segments where the rock structure is best.
Vinton and Palo county conservation areas break the middle river into manageable single-day floats.
The Cedar Valley Nature Trail parallels much of the river between Waterloo and Evansdale and gives long stretches of bank access.
Low-head dams remain in several towns and are genuinely dangerous - portage well upstream and do not attempt to run them.
Farmland dominates the banks between access points; use the public landings rather than crossing fields.

Seasons

Spring: high and stained from snowmelt into May, with the walleye run below the dams the main event once the river drops.
Summer: prime smallmouth season. Low clear water over the rock reaches, good topwater fishing, and comfortable float conditions.
Fall: cooling water brings the biggest smallmouth and walleye of the year, and September and October are the best float months on the river.
Winter: the river ices over and the fishery effectively stops. Some tailwater fishing below the dams continues on mild spells.

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Questions

What is the current flow on the Cedar River?

As of Nov 2, 7:00 am, the USGS gauge Cedar River at Cedar Rapids, IA reads 5,360 cfs. Conditions update every 15 minutes.

What species can you catch on the Cedar River?

Anglers target Channel Catfish, Flathead Catfish, Northern Pike, Smallmouth Bass, Walleye on the Cedar River in Iowa.

Where can you access the Cedar River?

Cedar Rapids - city park and boat ramp access near the gauge, serving the lower river through and below town. Waterloo and Cedar Falls - multiple ramps and park accesses, and the closest good smallmouth water to the metro area. Waverly - the usual put-in for the upper float segments where the rock structure is best. Vinton and Palo county conservation areas break the middle river into manageable single-day floats. The Cedar Valley Nature Trail parallels much of the river between Waterloo and Evansdale and gives long stretches of bank access. Low-head dams remain in several towns and are genuin...

When is the best time to fish the Cedar River?

Spring: high and stained from snowmelt into May, with the walleye run below the dams the main event once the river drops. Summer: prime smallmouth season. Low clear water over the rock reaches, good topwater fishing, and comfortable float conditions. Fall: cooling water brings the biggest smallmouth and walleye of the year, and September and October are the best float months on the river. Winter: the river ices over and the fishery effectively stops. Some tailwater fishing below the dams continues on mild spells.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Cedar River?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Iowa agency site: https://www.iowadnr.gov/things-do/fishing/regulations-laws