The Buffalo River is the longest unimpounded river in

Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of the U.S. state of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the ...

in the United States. It flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed June 8, 2011 through the southern and western portions of that region. The Buffalo is the largest tributary of the Duck River.

Canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the ter ...

ing is popular, especially in its middle section. The river is named for the

Buffalo fish ''Ictiobus'', also known as buffalofish or simply buffalo, is a genus of freshwater fish native to North America, specifically the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Guatemala. They are the largest and longest-lived of the North American sucke ...

which was abundant when the first European settlers arrived.

Sources

The Buffalo rises in northern Lawrence County. U.S. Highway 43 crosses both the North and South Forks. The highway crosses the North Fork several times as it parallels the river for about . The confluence of the North and South forks about a mile west of Highway 43 is the head of the Buffalo.

Course

Below the confluence, the Buffalo trends northwest for several miles. After entering Lewis County, it intersects the Natchez Trace Parkway. The confluence with the Little Buffalo River occurs in Lewis County followed by smaller tributaries. State Route 99 parallels the river for a distance and then crosses it in the broad Texas Bottoms. In Lewis County, the river continues to

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex ba ...

westward. Entering northern Wayne County, the stream has several more tributaries, notably the

Green River Green River may refer to: Rivers Canada * Green River (British Columbia), a tributary of the Lillooet River *Green River, a tributary of the Saint John River, also known by its French name of Rivière Verte *Green River (Ontario), a tributary of ...

. A few miles below the mouth of the Green River is the community of Flatwoods. Here State Route 13 bridges the Buffalo and then abruptly turns northerly for the balance of its flow. It crosses into Perry County near here. For most of its course through Perry County, the Buffalo roughly parallels State Route 13. Shortly after crossing into Humphreys County, it is bridged by

Interstate 40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west Interstate Highway running through the south-central portion of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and I-80. From west to ea ...

and then by Bakerville Road. About 8 miles north of this is the mouth of the Buffalo, its confluence with the

Duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form ...

Watershed

The upper Buffalo River, in Lawrence County, is designated a "State Scenic River" under the Tennessee Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. The only incorporated towns along the Buffalo, Linden and Lobelville, are in Perry County. Two unincorporated communities,

Flatwoods Flatwoods, pineywoods, pine savannas and longleaf pine-wiregrass ecosystem are terms that refer to an ecological community in the southeastern coastal plain of North America. Flatwoods are an ecosystem maintained by wildfire or prescribed fire and ...

and Beardstown are adjacent to the river in Perry County.

Hydrology

The Buffalo River watershed is the total land area that drains into the Buffalo River. It is designated as

Hydrologic Unit Code A hydrological code or hydrologic unit code is a sequence of numbers or letters (a '' geocode'') that identify a hydrological unit or feature, such as a river, river reach, lake, or area like a drainage basin (also called watershed in North Ameri ...

(HUC) 06040004 by the

USGS 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, a ...

. It empties into watershed 06040003, the Lower Duck River watershed. Buffalo River - panoramio

The Buffalo River watershed is composed of three sub-watersheds; two sections of the Buffalo River and the Cane Creek sub-watershed. The southeastern part of the Buffalo River watershed is HUC 0604000401. It includes the headwaters of the Buffalo plus the Little Buffalo River and both Chief Creek and Fortyeight Creek. The western side and northern one-third of the watershed is HUC 0604000402. It reaches from the Green River in Wayne County at the southern end to the mouth of the Buffalo in Humphreys County. Cane Creek, the third part of the watershed is HUC 0604000403. Upper Cane Creek begins at the headwaters of the creek near Hohenwald in Lewis County. Lower Cane Creek includes the mouth at Beardstown in Perry County. The Buffalo River watershed contains 1,200 miles of tributary streams. Impoundments include 349 lake acres in ponds and water stored behind 10 dams. These dams are primarily in the southeastern portion of the watershed. The majority of the impounded water is in Laurel Hill Lake with plus an additional in the VFW Lake. TDEC has also identified some wetlands sites in the southeastern portion of the watershed.

Land Use

Watershed land is primarily forests; 69% being

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, ...

, 3% is

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, whic ...

, and 4% is

mixed forest Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest is a temperate climate terrestrial habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature, with broadleaf tree ecoregions, and with conifer and broadleaf tree mixed coniferous forest ecoregions. These fo ...

. The second significant land use is agricultural crops.

Pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or sw ...

and

hay Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticat ...

fields account for 10% of the area while

row crop A row crop is a crop that can be planted in rows wide enough to allow it to be tilled or otherwise cultivated by agricultural machinery, machinery tailored for the seasonal activities of row crops. Such crops are sown by drilling or transplan ...

s occupy another 8%. Residential and commercial areas occupy less than 0.5% of the land. The soil in the watershed is primarily loam with some silty loam. The soil pH varies from about 4.85 to 5.45. Portions of the area are characteristic karst topography.

Natural history

The Buffalo is rich in aquatic life. Fishing it through passive methods such as limb and trot lines is traditional. There are many

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive ...

and other non-game fish such as drum. The largest aquatic animal usually found in the Buffalo is the alligator snapping turtle. It is often caught (usually unintentionally) on trot and limb lines. These turtles can weigh or more. TDEC lists 48 rare plant and animal species in the watershed. Rarity typically results from either a small population or a very restricted range. The non-aquatic species include 18

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclu ...

s, one mammal, three

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

s, two reptiles, one amphibian, three

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...

s and

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

s, and one other

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

. There are 20 aquatic species associated with the river or its tributaries; 12 fish, one

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group can ...

, three mussels, and four

snail A snail is, in loose terms, a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class G ...

Fish

Identified rare fish in the Buffalo include eight varieties of

Darters The darters, anhingas, or snakebirds are mainly tropical waterbirds in the family Anhingidae, which contains a single genus, ''Anhinga''. There are four living species, three of which are very common and widespread while the fourth is rarer and ...

, one

( Saddled Madtom), and one

Cavefish Cavefish or cave fish is a generic term for fresh and brackish water fish adapted to life in caves and other underground habitats. Related terms are subterranean fish, troglomorphic fish, troglobitic fish, stygobitic fish, phreatic fish and ...

(

Southern Cavefish ''Typhlichthys subterraneus'', the southern cavefish, is a species of cavefish in the family Amblyopsidae endemic to karst regions of the eastern United States. Taxonomy ''T. subterraneus'' is a one of five obligate troglobitic species in Ambly ...

). Most of the identified darters are listed as either Threatened or Endangered by either the State or Federal government. *'' Ammocrypta vivax'',

Scaly Sand Darter The scaly sand darter (''Ammocrypta vivax'') is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish, a darter from the subfamily Etheostomatinae, part of the family Percidae, which also contains the perches, ruffes and pikeperches. It is endemic to the sout ...

*'' Cyprinella monacha'', Spotfin Chub – Federal Threatened status *'' Etheostoma aquali'', Coppercheek Darter – State level Threatened status *'' Etheostoma boschungi'', Slackwater Darter – Federal Threatened status *'' Etheostoma cinereum'',

Ashy Darter The ashy darter (''Etheostoma cinereum'') is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish, a darter from the subfamily Etheostomatinae, part of the family Percidae, which also contains the perches, ruffes and pikeperches. It is endemic to the ea ...

– State level Threatened status *'' Etheostoma denoncourti'', Golden Darter *'' Etheostoma pseudovulatum'', Egg-Mimic Darter – State level Endangered status *'' Percina burtoni'', Blotchside Darter *'' Percina macrocephala'', Longhead Darter – State level Threatened status

Crustacean

The Alabama crayfish, '' Orconectes alabamensis'' is a rare crayfish species found near the Buffalo.

Mussels

Three species of mussels are among the rare species listed by TDEC. Both the Cracking Pearly Mussel and the Pale Lilliput are listed by both State and Federal authorities as Endangered. *'' Hemistena lata'', Cracking Pearly Mussel *'' Quadrilla cylindrical cylindrical'',

Rabbitsfoot The rabbitsfoot (''Theliderma cylindrica'') is a species of freshwater mussel. It is an Aquatic animal, aquatic bivalve mollusk, in the family Unionidae, the river mussels. This species is native to the United States, where it is widespread in ...

*'' Toxolasma cylindrellus'', Pale Lilliput

Snails

Four species of rare

snails A snail is, in loose terms, a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gastro ...

are found near the Buffalo; none of them are included by TDEC on species concerns lists. *'' Leptoxis praerosa'', Onyx Rocksnail *'' Lithasia duttoniana'', Helmet Rocksnail *'' Lithasia geniculata fuliginosa'', Geniculate Rocksnail *'' Lithasia geniculata fulginosa'', Geniculate Riversnail

Geology

Except for a very small section on the southern end, the watershed is part of the

Western Highland Rim The Highland Rim is a geographic term for the area in Tennessee surrounding the Central Basin. Nashville is largely surrounded by higher terrain in all directions. Geologically, the Central Basin is a dome. The Highland Rim is a cuesta surround ...

, one of 25 Level IV subecoregions in the state. The

dissected Dissection (from Latin ' "to cut to pieces"; also called anatomization) is the dismembering of the body of a deceased animal or plant to study its anatomical structure. Autopsy is used in pathology and forensic medicine to determine the cause ...

, rolling terrain is characterized by long ridges with steep sides and hollows deeply eroded into those ridges. The river flows in a wide flood plain of "bottom land". The elevation varies from . The predominant geology of the area is that of

Paleozoic The Paleozoic (or Palaeozoic) Era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. The name ''Paleozoic'' ( ;) was coined by the British geologist Adam Sedgwick in 1838 by combining the Greek words ''palaiós'' (, "old") and ' ...

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

s. The Mississippian limestone base along with chert and shale is overlaid by fairly thin soils of moderate

fertility Fertility is the capability to produce offspring through reproduction following the onset of sexual maturity. The fertility rate is the average number of children born by a female during her lifetime and is quantified demographically. Fertili ...

. These tend to be

acidic In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a ...

. Much of the

differential erosion Weathering is the deterioration of rocks, soils and minerals as well as wood and artificial materials through contact with water, atmospheric gases, and biological organisms. Weathering occurs ''in situ'' (on site, with little or no movement), ...

leading to the terrain features results from differences in deposition and mineralization of the various types of limestone in the area and the presence of large portions of

chert Chert () is a hard, fine-grained sedimentary rock composed of microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline quartz, the mineral form of silicon dioxide (SiO2). Chert is characteristically of biological origin, but may also occur inorganically as a ...

. Some chert bears small quantities of the iron-containing mineral hematite or other oxides of iron. During the mid-to-late 19th century there was considerable iron-ore related mining and smelting of Limonite ore. The sizable tributary streams flow out of narrow hollows into the Buffalo; only the largest ones have true stream

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams ove ...

s of their own. Streams are typically clear with a moderate

gradient In vector calculus, the gradient of a scalar-valued differentiable function of several variables is the vector field (or vector-valued function) \nabla f whose value at a point p is the "direction and rate of fastest increase". If the gr ...

Economy

Canoeing float trips significantly contribute to the area's economy. The area's remoteness depresses the local economy compared to that of the state as a whole. The

Middle Tennessee Council The Middle Tennessee Council is a local council of the Boy Scouts of America in Tennessee, with headquarters in Nashville. It serves 37 Middle Tennessee counties and Fort Campbell, Kentucky. History The Nashville Council was founded in 1920 ...

of the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded ...

operates Grimes Canoe Base along the Buffalo in southern Perry County. Several businesses provide commercial canoe and float access to the river for tourists. The river is primarily a Class I stream with significant stretches of flat water. Free float tubing is feasible in selected portions of the river. There are three trails associated with the river. * Buffalo River – Perry County – A scenic

water trail Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a s ...

through nature – * Ladies Bluff Trail – Perry County – A scenic, hiking, wilderness trail – – Partially ADA compliant * Linden City Park Walking Trail – Perry County – Health and fitness trail – ADA compliant

River access

Metal Ford
is accessible from the Natchez Trace Parkway about south of

Tennessee State Route 20 State Route 20 (SR 20) is a long east–west primary state highway that begins in Dyersburg and ending near Summertown. SR 20 is unsigned and concurrent with U.S. Route 412 (US 412) for its entire length, except for ...

References

External links

* *
USGS WaterData: Stream Gauge Buffalo River near Flat Woods

NWS Advanced Hydrologic Prediction near Flat WoodsUSGS WaterData: Stream Gauge Buffalo River below Lobelville

NWS Advanced Hydrologic Prediction below LobelvilleBuffalo River Watershed (06040004) - TDEC - Water Quality Management Plan
{{authority control Rivers of Tennessee Rivers of Perry County, Tennessee Rivers of Lawrence County, Tennessee Rivers of Lewis County, Tennessee Rivers of Wayne County, Tennessee Rivers of Humphreys County, Tennessee