The Fourche La Fave River (pronounced "Foosh La Fay"; shown as Fourche LaFave River on federal maps) is a tributary of the

Arkansas River 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 the western United Stat ...

, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed June 3, 2011 in western

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It drains part of the northern

Ouachita Mountains The Ouachita Mountains (), simply referred to as the Ouachitas, are a mountain range in western Arkansas and southeastern Oklahoma. They are formed by a thick succession of highly deformed Paleozoic strata constituting the Ouachita Fold and Thru ...

west of

Little Rock ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

. It was named for the La Feve family who settled near its mouth. ''Fourche'' is French meaning "fork".

Course

It rises in southern Scott County south of Waldron and flows east-northeast through the

Ouachita National Forest The Ouachita National Forest is a vast congressionally-designated United States National Forest, National Forest that lies in the western portion of Arkansas and portions of extreme-eastern Oklahoma, USA. History The Ouachita National Forest is t ...

, along the southern side of the Dutch Creek Mountain ridge, then along the north side of the Fourche Mountain ridge. It flows past Perryville and joins the Arkansas from the west approximately northwest of Little Rock. It is impounded by the Nimrod Dam at Fourche Junction to form

Nimrod Lake Nimrod Lake is a reservoir in western Arkansas, created by the construction of the Nimrod Dam. It is the oldest Corps of Engineers project in Arkansas, and was completed in 1942 on the Fourche LaFave River. Overview The lake is popular for sp ...

for

flood control Flood control methods are used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters."Flood Control", MSN Encarta, 2008 (see below: Further reading). Flood relief methods are used to reduce the effects of flood waters or high water level ...

. It is joined by the South Fourche La Fave River west of Perryville.

Crossings

* Fourche LaFave River Bridge: a historic bridge over the Fourche La Fave River * Wallace Bridge: a historic bridge over the Fourche La Fave River * Ward's Crossing Bridge: a historic bridge over the Fourche La Fave River

References

External links

Nimrod LakeTopographic map of a section of the Fourche Lafave River
* Rivers of Arkansas Tributaries of the Arkansas River Rivers of Perry County, Arkansas Rivers of Yell County, Arkansas Bodies of water of Scott County, Arkansas {{Arkansas-river-stub