Winding Gulf is a long

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

Guyandotte River The Guyandotte River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 166 mi (267 km) long, in southwestern West Virginia in the United States. It was named after the French term for the Wendat Native Americans. It drains an area of t ...

in Raleigh 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 American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

. Winding Gulf is part 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 fl ...

watershed via the Guyandotte 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, and drains an area of in a rural area on 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 (state), New York, northern and western Pennsylvania, northern and western West Virginia, and eastern Oh ...

. Winding Gulf's entire course and drainage area are in southern Raleigh County. It rises about west-southwest of Princewick and initially flows to the north, passing through the community of Winding Gulf. It then turns west to follow the

Norfolk and Western Railroad The Norfolk and Western Railway , commonly called the N&W, was a US class I railroad, formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It was headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, for most of its existence. Its motto was "Precisio ...

and flows through the communities of Big Stick and McAlpin. At McAlpin, it turns to the south to run along County Route 30 and

West Virginia Route 16 West Virginia Route 16 (WV 16) is a north–south route located in the U.S. State of West Virginia. The southern terminus of the route is at the Virginia state line in Bishop, McDowell County, where the route continues south as Virginia St ...

; this portion of the creek flows through the communities of Stotesbury, Tams, Ury, and

Helen Helen may refer to: People * Helen of Troy, in Greek mythology, the most beautiful woman in the world * Helen (actress) (born 1938), Indian actress * Helen (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) Places * Helen, ...

Stonecoal Creek Stonecoal Creek is a tributary of the West Fork River, long, in north-central West Virginia in the United States. Via the West Fork, Monongahela and Ohio Rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of on the ...

flows into Winding Gulf from the east in Stonecoal Junction, and shortly past their confluence, Winding Gulf flows into the Guyandotte River from the north in

Amigo Amigo(s) (Portuguese and Spanish for ''male friend'') may refer to: People * Carlos Amigo Vallejo (born 1934), Spanish Roman Catholic archbishop emeritus of Seville Places Facilities * Amigos School, a bilingual primary school in Cambridge, Ma ...

. According to 1992

U.S. 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, and ...

data, 92.54% of the Winding Gulf watershed was forested; 3.99% was used for agriculture, 1.67% for mining, and 1.82% for other uses.

References

{{authority control Rivers of West Virginia Rivers of Raleigh County, West Virginia Tributaries of the Guyandotte River

See also

References