Tearcoat Creek (officially Tear Coat Creek, per 1931 federal

Board on Geographic Names The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the federal govern ...

decision) is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed August 15, 2011 free-flowing

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 ...

stream of the North River, itself a tributary of the

Cacapon River The Cacapon River ( ; meaning Medicine Waters), located in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle region, is an shallow river known for its fishing, boating, wildlife, hunting, and wilderness scenery. As part of the Potoma ...

, making it a 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 ...

and

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 / ...

watersheds. The creek is located in central Hampshire 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 ...

. Its name is believed to have been derived from the tearing of the coats of

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

soldiers by low-hanging branches as they forded the stream during either the French and Indian or the American Revolutionary Wars. Tearcoat Creek is popular with

whitewater Whitewater forms in a rapid context, in particular, when a river's gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that froths, making the water appear opaque and ...

rafters who frequent the stretch of stream between 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 183 ...

( U.S. Route 50) at Pleasant Dale and its mouth on the North River. The creek's Class II-III rapids are mostly on blind turns in the forested gorge near its mouth. Tearcoat Creek can be accessed by rafters from Tear Coat Road (CR 50/17), which is parallel to the stream from US 50.

Headwaters & course

The stream's source lies near Ruckman where it flows northeast along the western flanks of Short Mountain (2,864 feet) parallel to Augusta-Ford Hill Road (CR 7). At Ford Hill (1,421 feet), Tearcoat Creek is joined by Mack Road (CR 7/5) and continues on its northeastern course. Through this stretch south of Augusta, Tearcoat merges with a number of smaller cattle watering streams increasing it in size. After parting from Mack Road, the creek meanders through a winding gorge to the west of Dunmore Ridge (1,401 feet). South of US 50, Tearcoat Creek is joined by its two largest named tributary streams: first Turkeyfoot Run and then Bearwallow Creek. Shortly after its confluence with

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 ...

, it passes under the US 50 bridge at Pleasant Dale continuing northeast through another winding forested gorge. It is the stretch within this gorge that Tearcoat Creek, at times, is deep enough and contains enough water flow for Class II-III rapids. From the gorge, the creek turns east and converges with the North River north of Hanging Rock.

References

{{authority control Rivers of Hampshire County, West Virginia Rivers of West Virginia Tributaries of the Potomac River

Headwaters & course

See also

References