The Cacapon River ( ; meaning Medicine Waters), located in the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. The ...

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 ...

's Eastern Panhandle region, is an shallow river known for its fishing, boating, wildlife, hunting, and wilderness scenery. As part of the

Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augu ...

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

, it is an

American Heritage River American Heritage Rivers were designated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in the 1990s to receive special attention (coordinating efforts of multiple governmental entities) to further three objectives: natural resource and envir ...

. The Cacapon River Watershed is made up of three major river segments and many smaller stream watersheds. The

headwaters The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source. Definition The ...

of the Cacapon River, known as the Lost River, is long and receives water from a watershed covering . The largest tributary of the Cacapon is the North River, which drains , an area comparable to that of the Lost River. Overall, the Cacapon River watershed includes the Lost and North River watersheds, and those of many smaller streams for a total of . The Cacapon watershed is itself part of the

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the Eastern Shore of Maryland / ...

watershed. In recent years the Cacapon River and its watershed have become threatened by development, and industrial and agricultural growth. Concern about these issues led to the establishment of the Cacapon Institute in 1985 (originally known as the Pine Cabin Run Ecological Laboratory).

Course

Emergence to Hampshire County line

Capon Lake Whipple Truss Bridge Capon Lake WV 2004 01

The Cacapon River emerges from underground in a gap in Sandy Ridge (1683 feet/513 m) west of Wardensville. It is actually the reemergence of the Lost River, which sinks into an underground channel east of McCauley near the entrance to Camp Pinnacle. From its emergence, the Cacapon River creates a horseshoe bend shaped gap through Sandy Ridge and flows east paralleling

West Virginia Route 55 West Virginia Route 55 is an east–west state highway in West Virginia. The western terminus of the route is at U.S. Route 19 in Muddlety. The eastern terminus is at the Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, ...

/ West Virginia Route 259 to its north. At Wardensville, the river is joined by Trout Run and then curves northeastward where it meanders through an expansive valley plain. Here, it is fed by Slate Rock Run and then Moores Run further north. Waites Run, a tributary draining some of the western slopes of

Great North Mountain Great North Mountain is a long mountain ridge within the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians in the U.S. states of Virginia and West Virginia. The ridge is located west of the Shenandoah Valley and Massanutten Mountain in Virginia, and east of t ...

enters the Cacapon River near the bridge on Rt. 55, north of Wardensville. Shortly after its confluence with Sine Run, the Cacapon River continues north into Hampshire County.

Hampshire County line to Yellow Spring

From the county line, the river is bounded to its east by the George Washington National Forest and to its west by Baker Mountain (2024 feet/617 m). Throughout this stretch, the Cacapon River is also joined by sections of the old Winchester and Western Railroad grade. It continues its meandering course northeastward, flowing past the community of Intermont and Hebron Church. At Capon Lake, the river is joined by

Capon Springs Run Capon Springs Run is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 15, 2011 tributary stream of the Cacapon River in Hampshire County of West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle. C ...

and is the site of the historic

Capon Lake Whipple Truss Bridge The Capon Lake Whipple Truss Bridge (), formerly known as South Branch Bridge or Romney Bridge, is a historic Whipple truss bridge in Capon Lake, West Virginia. It is located off Carpers Pike (West Virginia Route 259) and crosses the Cacapon ...

. West Virginia Route 259 parallels the Cacapon River to its west along the eastern flank of Baker Mountain until the road turns east across the Kenneth Seldon Bridge at Yellow Spring. From Yellow Spring Gap, the river is fed by a run whose source is the "Yellow Spring".

Yellow Spring to Kale Hollow

Kenneth Seldon Bridge Yellow Spring WV 2005 09 19 04

The Cacapon River moves north along the eastern flank of Cacapon Mountain (1913 feet/583 m) with Cacapon River Road (West Virginia Secondary Route 14) paralleling it to its west. From Yellow Spring, the river flows by Camps Rim Rock and White Mountain. After another immense horseshoe bend, the Cacapon River moves past the communities of Hooks Mills and Bubbling Spring and is joined by Old Man Run and Kale Hollow's run. The river's stretch through Bubbling Spring is a popular location for summer river camps which consist of

cottage A cottage, during Feudalism in England, England's feudal period, was the holding by a cottager (known as a cotter or ''bordar'') of a small house with enough garden to feed a family and in return for the cottage, the cottager had to provide ...

trailers Trailer may refer to: a Transportation * Trailer (vehicle), an unpowered vehicle pulled by a powered vehicle ** Bicycle trailer, a wheeled frame for hitching to a bicycle to tow cargo or passengers ** Full-trailer ** Semi-trailer **Horse traile ...

, and campers on narrow river lots. This stretch of the Cacapon River is also the scene for numerous old

plantation house A plantation house is the main house of a plantation, often a substantial farmhouse, which often serves as a symbol for the plantation as a whole. Plantation houses in the Southern United States and in other areas are known as quite grand and e ...

s including the Captain David Pugh House (''Riversdell'') at Hooks Mills, listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

Kale Hollow to Cold Stream

North of Kale Hollow, the Cacapon River is joined to its west by Dillons Mountain (1913 feet/583 m). To its east, the river is paralleled by Christian Church Road (West Virginia Secondary Route 13), on which is located the 18th century Capon Chapel. After its confluence with Mill Branch, the Cacapon River bends through the small historic town of Capon Bridge. It is met by

Dillons Run Dillons Run is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed August 15, 2011 tributary stream of the Cacapon River, belonging to the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay watersheds. The ...

from its west and traversed by a bridge of the

Northwestern Turnpike The Northwestern Turnpike is a historic road in West Virginia ( Virginia at the time the road was created), important for being historically one of the major roads crossing the Appalachians, financed by the Virginia Board of Public Works in the 1 ...

( U.S. Route 50), from which Capon Bridge takes its name. From Capon Bridge, the Cacapon River is bounded to its east by

Bear Garden Mountain Bear Garden Mountain is a forested mountain ridge of the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians in Hampshire County, West Virginia and Frederick County, Virginia. Geography Bear Garden Mountain runs southwest–northeast from its northern terminus ...

(1572 feet/479 m). It is then joined by

Edwards Run Edwards Run is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed August 15, 2011 tributary stream of the Cacapon River, belonging to the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay watersheds. ...

and Cold Stream near the community of Cold Stream.

Cold Stream to Largent

The river meanders north around Darbys Nose (1287 feet/392 m), flanked to its east by Leith Mountain (1598 feet/487 m). The stretch of the Cacapon River between Cold Stream and Forks of Cacapon is mountainous and forested with little development. It meanders through a series of mountain ridges, on one of which,

Castle Mountain Castle Mountain ( bla, Miistukskoowa) is a mountain located within Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies, approximately halfway between Banff and Lake Louise. It is the easternmost mountain of the Main Ranges in the Bow Valley and sits ...

(1260 feet/384 m), sits the Caudy's Castle rock outcrop. Bloomery Pike (

West Virginia Route 127 West Virginia Route 127 is an east–west state highway located in northeast West Virginia. The western terminus is at West Virginia Route 29 near Forks of Cacapon in Hampshire County. The eastern terminus is at the Virginia state line w ...

) passes over the river where it is met by Bloomery Run east of Forks of Cacapon. North of Bloomery Pike lies the actual "Forks of Cacapon" where the Cacapon and

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north ...

Rivers converge. From Forks of Cacapon to Largent, the river creates a number of horseshoe bends between

Sideling Hill Sideling Hill, also Side Long Hill, is a long, steep, narrow mountain ridge in the Ridge-and-Valley (or Allegheny Mountains) physiographic province of the Appalachian Mountains, located in Washington County in western Maryland and adjacent Wes ...

(2021 feet/616 m) and Little Mountain (1429 feet/435 m). This stretch of the Cacapon River is also mostly undeveloped and forested with the exception of a

gated community A gated community (or walled community) is a form of residential community or housing estate containing strictly controlled entrances for pedestrians, bicycles, and automobiles, and often characterized by a closed perimeter of walls and fences. ...

, The Crossings, located between the WV 127 bridge and Largent.

Largent to Great Cacapon

The Cacapon River meanders into Morgan County at Largent where Cacapon Road ( West Virginia Route 9) passes over it and the river is met by Stony Creek. It continues its meandering course northeast between

and Little Mountain until Fisher's Bridge where it is joined to its east by the western flanks of Cacapon Mountain. Tonoloway Ridge (992 feet/302 m) then bounds the Cacapon River to its west until it reaches the railroad hamlet of Great Cacapon. After passing under the WV 9 and old

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...

bridges, the Cacapon River joins the Potomac.

Name and variants

Cacapon is a name derived from the Shawnee language meaning "medicine water". The Board on Geographic Names decided on "Cacapon River" in 1916 as the river's official name and spelling. Variants include: *Big Capon River *Cacapehon Creek *Cacapehon River *Cacapon Creek *Cacapon River *Cackapehon River *Cackapohon River *Capcappin Creek *Cape Capon River *Capecapon River *Capon River *Great Cacapehon River *Great Cacapon River *Great Capon River

Bridges

Float trips

All locations listed below are designated public access sites by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources at thei
website
Access sites are listed from south to north.

Tributaries

North River North River Mills WV 2005 09 19 11

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 ...

streams are listed from south to north. Major tributaries are listed in bold. * Lost River * Trout Run *Waites Run *Slate Rock Run *Moores Run *Sine Run *Harness Run *Hawk Run *

**Himmelwright Run **Dry Run *Yellow Spring Run *Falling Run *Loman Branch *Crooked Run *Old Man Run *Kale Hollow Run * Mill Branch *

**Gunbarrel Hollow Run **Parks Hollow Run Edwards Run at Edwards Run WMA

and Edwards Run Lake *Cold Stream **Frog Hollow Run *Bloomery Run **Ivy Run * North River **

Grassy Lick Run Grassy Lick Run is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed August 15, 2011 tributary stream of the North River, itself a tributary of the Cacapon River, making it a part of ...

Tearcoat Creek Tearcoat Creek (officially Tear Coat Creek, per 1931 federal Board on Geographic Names decision) is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 free-flowing tributa ...

***

Bearwallow Creek Bearwallow Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 15, 2011 tributary stream of Tearcoat Creek, itself a tributary of the North River, making it a part of the ...

*Bowers Run *Wolf Hollow Run *Critton Run *Falling Spring Run *Stony Creek *Constant Run **Whisners Run *Connor Hollow Run

Cities and towns along the Cacapon River

* Bubbling Spring * Capon Bridge * Capon Lake * Cold Stream * Davis Ford * Forks of Cacapon * Great Cacapon * Hooks Mills * Intermont * Largent * Wardensville * Yellow Spring

References

External links

The Cacapon InstituteFriends of the Cacapon RiverCacapon and Lost Rivers Land TrustWest Virginia Division of Natural Resources
{{authority control American Heritage Rivers Rivers of Hampshire County, West Virginia Rivers of Hardy County, West Virginia Rivers of Morgan County, West Virginia Rivers of West Virginia Tributaries of the Potomac River