Shavers Fork of the

Cheat River The Cheat River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed August 15, 2011 tributary of the Monongahela River in eastern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania in the Uni ...

is situated in the

Allegheny Mountains The Allegheny Mountain Range (; also spelled Alleghany or Allegany), informally the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada and posed a significant barrier to land travel in less devel ...

of eastern

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 ...

, USA. It is 88.5 mi (142.5 km) long and forms the Cheat at its

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...

with Black Fork at

Parsons Parsons may refer to: Places In the United States: * Parsons, Kansas, a city * Parsons, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Parsons, Tennessee, a city * Parsons, West Virginia, a town * Camp Parsons, a Boy Scout camp in the state of Washingt ...

DeLorme DeLorme is the producer of personal satellite tracking, messaging, and navigation technology. The company’s main product, ''inReach'', integrates GPS and satellite technologies. ''inReach'' provides the ability to send and receive text message ...

(1997). ''West Virginia Atlas & Gazetteer''. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. . It was traditionally considered one of the five Forks of Cheat and its upper reaches constitute the highest river in the eastern United States.

Geography

Shavers Fork, via the Cheat, Monongahela and

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

Rivers, is part of the

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 ...

of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest Drainage system (geomorphology), drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson B ...

, draining an area of 214 mi² (554 km²). It flows for much of its length through the

Monongahela National Forest The Monongahela National Forest is a national forest located in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia, USA. It protects over of federally managed land within a proclamation boundary that includes much of the Potomac Highlands Regi ...

, and drains mostly

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are de ...

and

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

ed areas. 97% of the river's basin is forested, and two-thirds of it is public land. Shavers Fork rises in north-central Pocahontas County at

Thorny Flat Thorny Flat () is the second highest peak in the U.S. state of West Virginia, after Spruce Knob Spruce Mountain, located in eastern West Virginia, is the highest ridge of the Allegheny Mountains. The whale-backed ridge extends for only from nor ...

, highest peak of Cheat Mountain (4,848 ft/1,478 m) and the site of

Snowshoe Mountain Snowshoe Mountain is a ski resort in the eastern United States, located in Snowshoe, West Virginia. The resort has skiable terrain across and covers a total area of in the Allegheny Mountains, which are a part of the vast Appalachian Mountain R ...

ski resort. Its headwaters flow through the

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by All ...

Spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfam ...

. The river then flows generally north-northeastwardly through Randolph and Tucker Counties, where its valley is the trough between Cheat Mountain (to the west) and

Shavers Mountain Shavers Mountain, is a high and rugged ridge situated in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia. It is about long, north to south, and several of its peaks exceed in elevation. Shavers Mountain is notable for being "bookended", at its ...

(to the east). Settlements along its course include Cheat Bridge, Bemis, Bowden, and Porterwood. The "High Falls of Cheat" (15 feet .6 mhigh) is a few miles upstream of Bemis. Shavers Fork ultimately joins the Black Fork at Parsons to form the Cheat at an elevation of 1621 ft (494 m).

Names

The creek was named after the local Shaver family. According to the

Geographic Names Information System The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories, Antarctica, and the associated states of ...

, Shavers Fork has also been known historically as: *Chavers Fork *Main Cheat River *Shafers Fork *Shaffers Fork of Cheat River *Shaver's Fork *Shavers Fork River *Shavers Fork of Cheat River

References

External links

''The Nature Conservancy's'' Upper Shavers Fork Preserve
{{authority control Rivers of West Virginia Monongahela National Forest Rivers of Pocahontas County, West Virginia Rivers of Randolph County, West Virginia Rivers of Tucker County, West Virginia

Geography

Names

See also

References

External links