The North Fork Solomon River is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

in the central Great Plains of North America. Its entire length lies within the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

. It is a

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 drai ...

of the

Solomon River The Solomon River, often referred to as the "Solomon Fork", is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 29, 2011 river in the central Great Plains of North America. The ...

Geography

The North Fork Solomon River originates in the

High Plains High Plains refers to one of two distinct land regions: * High Plains (United States), land region of the western Great Plains *High Plains (Australia) The High Plains of south-eastern Australia are a sub-region, or more strictly a string of adja ...

of northwest Kansas. Its source lies in west-central Thomas County roughly southeast of

Brewster, Kansas Brewster is a city in Thomas County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 291. History Brewster was named for L.D. Brewster, a railroad official. Brewster was a station and shipping point on the Chicago ...

. From there, it flows generally east-northeast into the

Smoky Hills The Smoky Hills are an upland region of hills in the central Great Plains of North America. They are located in the Midwestern United States, encompassing north-central Kansas and a small portion of south-central Nebraska. The hills are a disse ...

region of north-central Kansas. Southeast of

Phillipsburg, Kansas Phillipsburg is a city in, and the county seat of, Phillips County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 2,337. History Phillipsburg was organized in 1872 and named the county seat due to its central location in t ...

, the river joins its tributary Bow Creek to feed

Kirwin Reservoir Kirwin Reservoir is a reservoir in Phillips County, Kansas, United States. It is located next to the city of Kirwin in northern Kansas. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation built it and continues to operate it for the purposes of flood control and a ...

. From the reservoir's dam, the river flows east, then turns southeast near Gaylord, Kansas. Immediately south of Cawker City in northwestern Mitchell County, the North Fork joins the

South Fork Solomon River The South Fork Solomon River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 29, 2011 river in the central Great Plains of North America. The entire length of the river lies in ...

to feed Waconda Lake.

History

In 1955, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation completed a

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

on the river immediately south of Kirwin, Kansas for flood control, creating

References

{{authority control Rivers of Kansas

Geography

History

See also

References