The Middle Fork River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed August 15, 2011

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

of the

Tygart Valley River The Tygart Valley River — also known as the Tygart River — is a principal tributary of the Monongahela River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed Aug ...

in north-central

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

, USA. Via the Tygart Valley, Monongahela and

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

rivers, it is part of the watershed of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

, draining an area of on the easternmost part of the

unglaciated A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...

portion of the

Allegheny Plateau The Allegheny Plateau , in the United States, is a large dissected plateau area of the Appalachian Mountains in western and central New York, northern and western Pennsylvania, northern and western West Virginia, and eastern Ohio. It is divide ...

. According to the

Geographic Names Information System The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories, Antarctica, and the associated states of ...

, the Middle Fork River has also been known simply as "Middle Fork" and as "Middlefork."

Geography

The Middle Fork River is formed at the community of Adolph in western

Randolph County Randolph County is the name of eight counties in the United States: *Randolph County, Alabama *Randolph County, Arkansas *Randolph County, Georgia *Randolph County, Illinois *Randolph County, Indiana *Randolph County, Missouri *Randolph County, Nort ...

by the confluence of the headwaters tributaries Kittle Creek and Birch Fork, each approximately in length, which rise just north of

Kumbrabow State Forest Kumbrabow State Forest is a state forest in southern Randolph County, West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of Amer ...

and flow northwardly. Kittle Creek rises on the western slope of Rich Mountain, considered to be part of the westernmost ridge of the

Allegheny Mountains The Allegheny Mountain Range (; also spelled Alleghany or Allegany), informally the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada and posed a significant barrier to land travel in less devel ...

and the eastern boundary of the Allegheny Plateau. From Adolph, the Middle Fork River flows generally northwardly, roughly in parallel to Rich Mountain. The river's course defines part of the boundary between Randolph and Upshur counties, and then between Upshur and Barbour counties, before flowing into southern Barbour County, where it joins the Tygart Valley River, approximately south of Philippi and a few miles upstream of the mouth of the

Buckhannon River The Buckhannon River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 15, 2011 tributary of the Tygart Valley River in north-central West Virginia, USA. Via the Tygart Valle ...

. Near its mouth it passes through

Audra State Park Audra State Park is a West Virginia state park located on in southwestern Barbour County. It was established around the remnants of an early 19th-century gristmill and the tiny community of Audra. A gristmill spillway is still visible in the r ...

, which was established in the mid-20th century and provides campsites and a swimming beach along the river. In Upshur County it collects a tributary known as the Right Fork Middle Fork River, which rises in southwestern Randolph County and flows northwardly into eastern Upshur County. For most of its course, the Middle Fork forms

whitewater rapids Whitewater forms in a rapid context, in particular, when a river's gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that froths, making the water appear opaque and ...

of Class I to Class IV on the International Scale of River Difficulty. From Audra State Park downstream to its mouth, it forms Class IV rapids. According to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, approximately 94% of the Middle Fork River's watershed is

forested A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

, mostly

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

, and approximately 4% is used for agriculture and pasture.

Flow rate

At the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

's stream gauge in Audra State Park, the annual mean flow of the river between 1942 and 2005 was 356 ft³/s (10 m³/s). The highest recorded flow during the period was 16,700 ft³/s (473 m³/s) on May 17, 1996. The lowest recorded flow was 0.2 ft³/s (0 m³/s) on several days in October 1953.

References

{{authority control Rivers of West Virginia Tributaries of the Monongahela River Rivers of Randolph County, West Virginia Rivers of Upshur County, West Virginia Rivers of Barbour County, West Virginia Allegheny Mountains Allegheny Plateau

Geography

Flow rate

See also

References