Cottonwood River — Flandrau to New Ulm: River Level Today — Can You Paddle It?

At 62 cfs the Cottonwood River is 88 cfs short of the 150 cfs this reach needs to float — that is the gap between today's reading and the bottom of the runnable range, not a small margin you can paddle through.

Over the last 24 hours it has barely moved, 58 cfs to 62 cfs. Daily means over the past 7 days have run between 63 cfs and 72 cfs, 8% lower at the end of the week than the start.

Cottonwood River at Flandrau to New Ulm is a Class I run in Minnesota — easygoing moving water with light riffles and nothing technical. Most paddlers put in at Flandrau State Park and take out at New Ulm (Riverside Park).

Whether it's worth the drive comes down to flow. This section generally paddles well at 150–2,190 cfs. Much below that and the Cottonwood River gets low and bony, so you end up scraping gravel and walking the shallows; well above the top of the range it turns fast, cold and pushy, which is a more serious day than most casual boaters want. We read USGS gauge 05317000 about every 30 minutes and compare the live number to that window, so the verdict at the top of this page reflects conditions right now rather than a monthly average.

Flows here are usually most dependable April–September. Spring can run high after rain or snowmelt, and late summer often drops too low to float well — but the gauge always beats the calendar, so check today's reading before you go.