The Des Moines offers a taste of southern Minnesota, and it offers its own unique beauty. A mostly serene river best paddled in the spring, the Des Moines flows through what was once prairie and now is farmland, starting at Talcott Lake. But from Windom south it winds through woods to pretty Kilen Woods State Park and 100- to 200-foot bluffs with oak and basswood. 1-507-359-6067.