The St. Marks River is a river in the Big Bend region of Florida. It has been classified by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection as an

Outstanding Florida Water Outstanding Florida Waters are rivers, lakes and other water features designated by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) under authority of Section 403.061 (27), Florida Statutes as "worthy of special protection because of their ...

, and is the easternmost river within the Northwest Florida Water Management District.Boning, Charles R. 2007. ''Florida's Rivers''. Sarasota, Florida: Pineapple Press, Inc. The St. Marks River begins in eastern Leon County, Florida and flows through Leon and Wakulla counties into Apalachee Bay, an arm of the Gulf of Mexico. It has a drainage basin of in size. It has one significant tributary, the

Wakulla River The Wakulla River is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 18, 2011 river in Wakulla County, Florida. It carries the outflow from Wakulla Springs, site of the Edward ...

. A few miles south of its source the St. Marks passes under a natural bridge at

Natural Bridge Battlefield Historic State Park Natural Bridge Battlefield State Historic Site is a Florida State Park in Leon County, Florida. It is located roughly between the city of Tallahassee and the town of St. Marks. During the American Civil War, the Battle of Natural Bridge was fou ...

and then disappears underground to become a subterranean river for about one-half mile. The river emerges at the St. Marks River Rise, a

first magnitude spring A spring is a point of exit at which groundwater from an aquifer flows out on top of Earth's crust (pedosphere) and becomes surface water. It is a component of the hydrosphere. Springs have long been important for humans as a source of fres ...

with a discharge of 433cf/s, to pass over a stretch of rocks, forming

rapid Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a ''cascade''. ...

s. The incorporated town of St. Marks is located at the juncture of the Wakulla and St. Marks Rivers. To the north is the community of

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay Europe Ireland *Newport, County Mayo, a town on the ...

. Between St. Marks and Newport is a small industrial area serviced by barge. The San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park and St. Marks lighthouse are located near the mouth of the river, while the City of Tallahassee's Sam O. Purdom Generating Plant is located on the river in St. Marks.

List of crossings

References

* Marth, Marty. 1990. St. Marks River. in Marth, Del and Marty Marth, eds. ''The Rivers of Florida''. Sarasota, Florida: Pineapple Press, Inc. .
protectingourwater.org: St. Marks River Watershed

Emerging Waters: Springs of Northwest Florida

St. Marks River & Apalachee Bay Watershed
* tp://ftp.dep.state.fl.us/pub/labs/lds/reports/9683.pdf City Of Tallahassee Sam O. Purdom Generating Station Bodies of water of Jefferson County, Florida Bodies of water of Leon County, Florida Rivers of Florida Rivers of Wakulla County, Florida Outstanding Florida Waters Subterranean rivers of the United States {{Florida-river-stub