Gotch Park is set at the confluence of the Des Moines River and East Fork. There is a fine boat ramp to the left of the picture, and excellent camping facilities in the park. If you attempt to launch a canoe or kayak here, the river watchers will stop you and warn that some have died going over a dam 400 yards south.

December 1998
Confluence of Rivers, Natural Splendor and Human Artifacts in Icy Harmony

Gotch Park, Humboldt County
The beginning of the modern Des Moines, at the confluence of the West and East Forks. At the time of statehood, the Des Moines River extended up into Minnesota, and the East Fork had not been so designated.

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