Potomac River | |
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![]() The Potomac River watershed covers the District of Columbia and parts of four states | |
Native name | Patawomeck (Algonquian languages) |
Location | |
Country | United States |
State | West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, District of Columbia |
Cities | Cumberland, MD; Harpers Ferry, WV; Washington, D.C.; Alexandria, VA |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | North Branch |
• location | Fairfax Stone, Preston County, West Virginia |
• coordinates | 39°11′43″N 79°29′28″W / 39.19528°N 79.49111°W |
• elevation | 3,060 ft (930 m) |
2nd source | South Branch |
• location | Near Monterey, Highland County, Virginia |
• coordinates | 38°25′30″N 79°36′27″W / 38.425°N 79.6075°W |
Source confluence | |
• location | Green Spring, West Virginia |
• coordinates | 39°31′39″N 78°35′15″W / 39.5275°N 78.5875°W |
Mouth | Chesapeake Bay |
• location | St. Mary's County, Maryland/Northumberland County, Virginia, United States |
• coordinates | 38°00′00″N 76°20′06″W / 38°N 76.335°W |
• elevation | 0 ft (0 m) |
Length | 405 mi (652 km) |
Basin size | 14,700 sq mi (38,000 km2) |
Discharge | |
• location | Little Falls, near Washington, D.C. (non-tidal; water years: 1931–2018)[2] |
• average | 11,498 cu ft/s (325.6 m3/s) (1931–2018) |
• minimum | 4,017 cu ft/s (113.7 m3/s) (2002) |
• maximum | 484,000 cu ft/s (13,700 m3/s) (1936) |
Discharge | |
• location | Point of Rocks, Maryland |
• average | 9,504 cu ft/s (269.1 m3/s) |
Discharge | |
• location | Hancock, Maryland |
• average | 4,168 cu ft/s (118.0 m3/s) |
Discharge | |
• location | Paw Paw, West Virginia |
• average | 3,376 cu ft/s (95.6 m3/s) |
Basin features | |
Tributaries | |
• left | Conococheague Creek, Antietam Creek, Monocacy River, Rock Creek, Anacostia River |
• right | Cacapon River, Shenandoah River, Goose Creek, Occoquan River, Wicomico River |
Waterfalls | Great Falls, Little Falls |
------------------------------------------------------------------ Note: Since 1996, the Potomac has been the 'sister river' of the Ara River of Tokyo, Japan[3] |
The Potomac River (/pəˈtoʊmək/ ) is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States that flows from the Potomac Highlands in West Virginia to the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It is 405 miles (652 km) long,[4] with a drainage area of 14,700 square miles (38,000 km2),[5] and is the fourth-largest river along the East Coast of the United States.[citation needed] More than 6 million people live within its watershed.[6]
The river forms part of the borders between Maryland and Washington, D.C., on the left descending bank, and West Virginia and Virginia on the right descending bank. Except for a small portion of its headwaters in West Virginia, the North Branch Potomac River is considered part of Maryland to the low-water mark on the opposite bank. The South Branch Potomac River lies completely within the state of West Virginia except for its headwaters, which lie in Virginia.
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