Rivers in United States

About the Rivers of United States

The 94 rivers above with an encyclopedia article, in brief. Each name opens the river's full page, with its course on the map.

Alabama

The Alabama River, in the U.S. state of Alabama, is formed by the Tallapoosa and Coosa rivers, which unite about 6 miles north of Montgomery, near the town of Wetumpka. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Allegheny

The Allegheny River is a 325-mile-long river that is located in western Pennsylvania and western New York in the United States. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Altamaha

The Altamaha River is a major river in the U.S. state of Georgia. It flows generally eastward for 137 miles from its origin at the confluence of the Oconee River and Ocmulgee River towards the Atlantic Ocean, where it empties into the ocean near Brunswick, Georgia. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Arkansas

The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in Colorado, specifically the Arkansas River Valley. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Bayou Lafourche

Bayou Lafourche, originally called Chetimachas River or La Fourche des Chetimaches, is a 106-mile-long bayou in southeastern Louisiana, United States, that flows into the Gulf of Mexico. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Bighorn

The Bighorn River is a tributary of the Yellowstone, approximately 461 miles long, in the states of Wyoming and Montana in the western United States. The river was named in 1805 by fur trader François Larocque for the bighorn sheep he saw along its banks as he explored the Yellowstone. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Brazos

The Brazos River, called the Río de los Brazos de Dios by early Spanish explorers, is the 14th-longest river in the United States at 1,280 miles from its headwater source at the head of Blackwater Draw, Roosevelt County, New Mexico to its mouth at the Gulf of Mexico with a 45,000-square-mile drainage basin. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Canadian

The Canadian River is the longest tributary of the Arkansas River. Entirely within the United States, it is about 1,026 miles long, starting in Colorado and traveling through New Mexico, the Texas Panhandle, and Oklahoma. The drainage area is about 47,700 square miles. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Cape Fear

The Cape Fear River is a 191.08-mile-long blackwater river in eastern North Carolina. It flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Cape Fear, from which it takes its name. The river is formed at the confluence of the Haw River and the Deep River in the town of Moncure, North Carolina. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Chattahoochee

The Chattahoochee River is a river in the Southeastern United States. It forms the southern half of the Alabama and Georgia border, as well as a portion of the Florida and Georgia border. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Chattooga

The Chattooga River is the main tributary of the Tugaloo River in the United States. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Cheyenne

The Cheyenne River, also written Chyone, referring to the Cheyenne people who once lived there, is a tributary of the Missouri River in the U.S. states of Wyoming and South Dakota. It is approximately 295 miles long and drains an area of 24,240 square miles. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Clark Fork

The Clark Fork, or the Clark Fork of the Columbia River, is a river in the U.S. states of Montana and Idaho, approximately 310 miles long. It is named after William Clark of the 1806 Lewis and Clark Expedition. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Colorado

The Colorado River is one of the principal rivers in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The 1,450-mile-long river, the Fifth-longest in the United States, drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Columbia

The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river forms in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Congaree

The Congaree River is a short but wide river in South Carolina in the United States; It flows for approximately 53 miles. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Connecticut

The Connecticut River is a major river in the New England region of the United States. The region's longest, it flows roughly southward for 406 miles through four states. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Cowpasture

The Cowpasture River is a chief tributary of the James River in western Virginia in the United States. It is 84.4 miles long. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Cumberland

The Cumberland River is a major waterway of the Southern United States. The 688-mile-long river drains almost 18,000 square miles of southern Kentucky and north-central Tennessee. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Delaware

The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing river in the Eastern United States. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Des Moines

The Des Moines River is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the upper Midwestern United States that is approximately 525 miles long from its farther headwaters. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Double Mountain Fork Brazos

The Double Mountain Fork Brazos River is an ephemeral, sandy-braided stream about 170 mi long, heading on the Llano Estacado of West Texas about 11.5 mi southeast of Tahoka, Texas, flowing east-northeast across the western Rolling Plains to join the Salt Fork, forming the Brazos River about 18 mi west-northwest of Haskell, Texas. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Feather

The Feather River is the principal tributary of the Sacramento River, in the Sacramento Valley of Northern California. The river's main stem is about 73 miles long. Its length to its most distant headwater tributary is just over 210 miles. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Flathead

The Flathead River, in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Montana, originates in the Canadian Rockies to the north of Glacier National Park and flows southwest into Flathead Lake, then after a journey of 158 miles, empties into the Clark Fork. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Gila

The Gila River is a 649-mile-long tributary of the Colorado River flowing through New Mexico and Arizona in the United States. The river drains an arid watershed of nearly 60,000 square miles that lies mostly within the U.S., but also extends into northern Sonora, Mexico. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Great Pee Dee

The Pee Dee River, also known as the Great Pee Dee River, is a river in the Carolinas of the United States. It originates in the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina, where its upper course, above the mouth of the Uwharrie River, is known as the Yadkin River. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Haw

The Haw River is a tributary of the Cape Fear River, approximately 110 mi long, which is entirely contained in north central North Carolina in the United States. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Holston

The Holston River is a 136-mile river that flows from Kingsport, Tennessee, to Knoxville, Tennessee. Along with its three major forks, it comprises a major river system that drains much of northeastern Tennessee, southwestern Virginia, and northwestern North Carolina. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Hudson

The Hudson River is a 315-mile river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York state. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Humboldt

The Humboldt River is the longest river in the northern and central part of Nevada. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Illinois

The Illinois River is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River at approximately 273 miles in length. Located in the U.S. state of Illinois, the river has a drainage basin of 28,756.6 square miles. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

John Day

The John Day River is a tributary of the Columbia River, approximately 284 miles long, in northeastern Oregon in the United States. It is known as the Mah-Hah River by the Cayuse people. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Kanawha

The Kanawha River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 97 mi long, in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The largest inland waterway in West Virginia, its watershed has been a significant industrial region of the state since early in the 19th century. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Kankakee

The Kankakee River is a tributary of the Illinois River, approximately 133 miles long, in the Central Corn Belt Plains of northwestern Indiana and northeastern Illinois in the United States. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Kansas

The Kansas River, also known as the Kaw, is a meandering river in northeastern Kansas in the United States. It is potentially the southwestern most part of the Missouri River drainage, which is sometimes in turn the northwesternmost portion of the extensive Mississippi River drainage. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Kaskaskia

The Kaskaskia River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 325 miles long, in central and southern Illinois in the United States. The second largest river system within Illinois, it drains a rural area of farms, as well as rolling hills along river bottoms of hardwood forests. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Kennebec

The Kennebec River is a 170-mile-long natural river within the U.S. state of Maine. It rises in Moosehead Lake in west-central Maine. The East and West Outlets join at Indian Pond and the river flows southward. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Kentucky

The Kentucky River is a tributary of the Ohio River in Kentucky, United States. The 260-mile river and its tributaries drain much of eastern and central Kentucky, passing through the Eastern Coalfield, the Cumberland Mountains, and the Bluegrass region. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Klamath

The Klamath River is a 257-mile long river in southern Oregon and northern California. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Kobuk

The Kobuk River, also known by the names Kooak, Kowak, Kubuk, Kuvuk, and Putnam, is a river located in the Arctic region of northwestern Alaska in the United States. It is approximately 280 miles long. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Koyukuk

The Koyukuk River is a 425-mile tributary of the Yukon River, in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the last major tributary entering the Yukon before the larger river empties into the Bering Sea. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Kuskokwim

The Kuskokwim River or Kusko River is a river, 702 miles long, in Southwest Alaska in the United States. It is the ninth largest river in the United States by average discharge volume at its mouth and seventeenth largest by basin drainage area. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Madison

The Madison River is a headwater tributary of the Missouri River, approximately 183 miles long, in Wyoming and Montana. Its confluence with the Jefferson and Gallatin rivers near Three Forks, Montana forms the Missouri River. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Marais des Cygnes

The Marais des Cygnes River is a principal tributary of the Osage River, about 217 miles long, in eastern Kansas and western Missouri in the United States. Via the Osage and Missouri rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Meade

The Meade River is a river in the North Slope region of the U.S. state of Alaska, beginning near Kulugra Ridge in the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska and flowing generally north past Atqasuk to Admiralty Bay, where it empties into the southern end of the Dease Inlet on the Beaufort Sea. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Merrimack

The Merrimack River is a 117-mile-long river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire, flows southward into Massachusetts, and then flows northeast until it empties into the Gulf of Maine at Newburyport. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Minnesota

The Minnesota River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 332 miles long, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It drains a watershed of 14,751 square miles in Minnesota and about 2,000 sq mi in South Dakota and Iowa. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Missouri River

The Missouri River is a river in the Central and Mountain West regions of the United States. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Mohawk

The Mohawk River is a 149-mile-long river in the U.S. state of New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson River, flowing into it in Cohoes, a few miles north of the state capital of Albany. The river is named for the Mohawk Nation of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Monongahela

The Monongahela River, sometimes referred to locally as the Mon, is a 130-mile-long river on the Allegheny Plateau in north-central West Virginia and Southwestern Pennsylvania. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Muskingum

The Muskingum River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 111 miles long, in southeastern Ohio in the United States. An important commercial route in the 19th century, it flows generally southward through the eastern hill country of Ohio. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Namekagon

The Namekagon River is a tributary of the St. Croix River. It is 101 miles long and is located in northwestern Wisconsin in the United States. Its course is protected as part of the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Niagara

The Niagara River flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, forming part of the border between Ontario, Canada, to the west, and New York, United States, to the east. The river, occasionally described as a strait, is approximately 58 kilometres long and is known for the Niagara Falls. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

North Platte

The North Platte River is a major tributary of the Platte River and is approximately 716 miles long, counting its many curves. In a straight line, it travels about 550 miles, along its course through the U.S. states of Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Oconee

The Oconee River is a 220-mile-long river in the U.S. state of Georgia. Its origin is in Hall County and it terminates where it joins the Ocmulgee River to form the Altamaha River near Lumber City at the borders of Montgomery County, Wheeler County, and Jeff Davis County. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Ohio

The Ohio River is a 981-mile-long river in the United States. It begins in the Northeast and serves as the boundary between the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its mouth on the Mississippi River at Cairo, Illinois. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Osage

The Osage River is a 276-mile-long tributary of the Missouri River in central Missouri in the United States. The eighth-largest river in the state, it drains a mostly rural area of 15,300 square miles. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Pearl

The Pearl River is an extensive river system in southern China. "Pearl River" is often also used as a catch-all for the watersheds of the Pearl tributaries within Guangdong, specifically the Xi, Bei, and Dong. These rivers all ultimately flow into the South China Sea through the Pearl River Delta. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Pecos

The Pecos River originates in north-central New Mexico and flows into Texas, emptying into the Rio Grande. Its headwaters are on the eastern slope of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range in Mora County north of Pecos, New Mexico, at an elevation of over 12,000 feet. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Pit

The Pit River is a major river draining from northeastern California into the state's Central Valley. The Pit, the Klamath and the Columbia are the only three rivers in the U.S. that cross the Cascade Range. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Platte

The Platte River is a major river in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is about 310 mi long; measured to its farthest source via its tributary, the North Platte River, it flows for over 1,050 miles. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Porcupine

The Porcupine River is a 916 km tributary of the Yukon River in Canada and the United States. It rises in the Ogilvie Mountains north of Dawson City, Yukon, Canada. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Potomac

The Potomac River is in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and flows from the Potomac Highlands in West Virginia to the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It is 405 miles long, with a drainage area of 14,700 square miles, and is the fourth-largest river along the East Coast of the United States. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Prairie Dog Town Fork Red

Prairie Dog Town Fork Red River is a sandy-braided stream about 120 mi long, formed at the confluence of Palo Duro Creek and Tierra Blanca Creek, about 1.8 mi northeast of Canyon in Randall County, Texas, and flowing east-southeastward to the Red River about 1 mi east of the 100th meridian, 8 mi south-southwest of Hollis, Oklahoma. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Republican

The Republican River is a river in the central Great Plains of North America, rising in the High Plains of eastern Colorado and flowing east 453 miles through the U.S. states of Nebraska and Kansas. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Rio Grande

The Rio Grande, in the United States, or the Río Bravo, in Mexico, also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo, is one of the principal rivers in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Roanoke

The Roanoke River runs 410 miles long through southern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina in the United States. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Sacramento

The Sacramento River is the principal river of Northern California in the United States and is the largest river in California. Rising in the Klamath Mountains, the river flows south for 400 miles before reaching the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and San Francisco Bay. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Sagavanirktok

The Sagavanirktok River or Sag River is a stream in the North Slope Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is about 180 miles long and originates on the north slope of the Brooks Range, flowing north to the Beaufort Sea near Prudhoe Bay. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Saint Johns

The St. Johns River is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and its most significant for commercial and recreational use. At 310 miles long, it winds through or borders twelve counties, three of which are the state's largest. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

San Joaquin

The San Joaquin River is the longest river of Central California. The 366-mile long river starts in the high Sierra Nevada and flows through the rich agricultural region of the northern San Joaquin Valley before reaching Suisun Bay, San Francisco Bay, and the Pacific Ocean. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Santee

The Santee River is a river in South Carolina in the United States, and is 143 miles long. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Savannah

The Savannah River is a major river in the Southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of Georgia and South Carolina. The river flows from the Appalachian Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean, for a total distance of about 301 miles. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Scioto

The Scioto River is a river in central and southern Ohio more than 231 miles in length. It rises in Hardin County just north of Roundhead, flows through Columbus, where it collects its largest tributary, the Olentangy River, flows south into Appalachian Ohio, and meets the Ohio River at Portsmouth. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Snake

The Snake River is a major river in the interior Pacific Northwest region of the United States. About 1,080 miles long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, which is the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

South Platte

The South Platte River is one of the two principal tributaries of the Platte River. Flowing through the U.S. states of Colorado and Nebraska, it is itself a major river of the American Midwest and the American Southwest/Mountain West. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

St. Clair

The St. Clair River is a 40.5-mile-long river in eastern North America that flows from Lake Huron into Lake St. Clair, forming part of the international boundary between Canada and the United States and between the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Michigan. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Stanislaus

The Stanislaus River is a tributary of the San Joaquin River in north-central California in the United States. The main stem of the river is 96 miles long, and measured to its furthest headwaters it is about 150 miles long. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Stikine

The Stikine River is a major river in northern British Columbia, Canada, and southeastern Alaska in the United States. It drains a large, remote upland area known as the Stikine Country east of the Coast Mountains. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Susitna

The Susitna River is a 313-mile long river in the Southcentral Alaska. It is the 15th largest river in the United States, ranked by average discharge volume at its mouth. The river stretches from the Susitna Glacier to Cook Inlet's Knik Arm. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Susquehanna

The Susquehanna River is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, crossing three lower Northeast states. At 444 miles long, it is the longest river on the East Coast of the United States. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Suwannee

The Suwannee River is a river that runs through south Georgia southward into Florida in the Southern United States. It is a wild blackwater river, about 246 miles long. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Tanana

The Tanana River is a 584-mile tributary of the Yukon River in the U.S. state of Alaska. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Tennessee

The Tennessee River is a 652-mile-long river located in the southeastern United States. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Tombigbee

The Tombigbee River is a tributary of the Mobile River, approximately 200 mi long, in the U.S. states of Mississippi and Alabama. Together with the Alabama, it merges to form the short Mobile River before the latter empties into Mobile Bay on the Gulf of Mexico. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Tugaloo

The Tugaloo River is a 45.9-mile-long river that forms part of the border between the U.S. states of Georgia and South Carolina. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Tuscarawas

The Tuscarawas River is a principal tributary of the Muskingum River, 129.9 miles long, in northeastern Ohio in the United States. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Wabash

The Wabash River WAW-bash is a 503-mile-long river that drains most of the state of Indiana, and a significant part of Illinois, in the United States. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Willamette

The Willamette River is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is 187 miles long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Winnipeg

Winnipeg River is a Canadian river that flows roughly northwest from Lake of the Woods in the province of Ontario to Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba. This river is 235 kilometres long from the Norman Dam in Kenora to its mouth at Lake Winnipeg. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Wisconsin

The Wisconsin River is the longest river in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, at approximately 430 miles long. As a tributary of the Mississippi River, it is part of the Mississippi River System. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Yadkin

The Yadkin River is one of the longest rivers in the US state of North Carolina, flowing 215 miles. It rises in the northwestern portion of the state near the Blue Ridge Parkway's Thunder Hill Overlook. Several parts of the river are impounded by dams for water, power, and flood control. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Yellowstone

The Yellowstone River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately 671 miles long, in the Western United States. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Yukon

The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. From its source in British Columbia, it flows through Canada's territory of Yukon. The lower half of the river continues westward through the U.S. state of Alaska. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)