Piney River (East Tennessee)

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Piney River
Piney River East TN.jpg
Upstream view from the Cumberland Trail bridge
Location
Physical characteristics
Source 
 - location Confluence of Piney and Duskin Creeks
 - elevation~ 1,020 ft (310 m) [1]
Mouth  
 - location
 Watts Bar Lake
 - elevation
741 ft (226 m) [2]

The Piney River is a stream that drains a portion of Tennessee's Cumberland Plateau generally known as Walden Ridge. The Piney River rises near the Rhea County – Bledsoe County line and is referred to as Piney Creek in its upper reaches roughly until its confluence with Duskin Creek. Its major tributary, Little Piney Creek, flows over two spectacular waterfalls which are located in Piney Falls State Natural Area near the community of Grandview. [3] A tributary of Little Piney Creek is Soak Creek, Tennessee's newest State Scenic River. [4] The confluence of the two streams occurs below the falls of the smaller stream in an area referred to as "Shut-in Gap". The stream flows out of the gap and is bridged by State Route 68 just before that road begins its steep climb up the Cumberland Escarpment onto Waldens Ridge. The stream flows north of Spring City, Tennessee and becomes slack just east of the town at a headland of Watts Bar Lake, an impoundment of the Tennessee River formed by the Tennessee Valley Authority's Watts Bar Dam project. The mouth of the Piney is one of the larger bays of Watts Bar Lake and contains several small islands.

Stream A body of surface water flowing down a channel

A stream is a body of water with surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. The stream encompasses surface and groundwater fluxes that respond to geological, geomorphological, hydrological and biotic controls.

Tennessee State of the United States of America

Tennessee is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th largest and the 16th most populous of the 50 United States. Tennessee is bordered by Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina to the east, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi to the south, Arkansas to the west, and Missouri to the northwest. The Appalachian Mountains dominate the eastern part of the state, and the Mississippi River forms the state's western border. Nashville is the state's capital and largest city, with a 2017 population of 667,560 and a 2017 metro population of 1,903,045. Tennessee's second largest city is Memphis, which had a population of 652,236 in 2017.

Cumberland Plateau

The Cumberland Plateau is the southern part of the Appalachian Plateau in the Appalachian Mountains of the United States. It includes much of eastern Kentucky and Tennessee, and portions of northern Alabama and northwest Georgia. The terms "Allegheny Plateau" and the "Cumberland Plateau" both refer to the dissected plateau lands lying west of the main Appalachian Mountains. The terms stem from historical usage rather than geological difference, so there is no strict dividing line between the two. Two major rivers share the names of the plateaus, with the Allegheny River rising in the Allegheny Plateau and the Cumberland River rising in the Cumberland Plateau in Harlan County, Kentucky.

Contents

The Cumberland Trail follows the Piney River. [5]

Variant names

According to the Geographic Names Information System, Piney River has also been known historically as: [6]

Geographic Names Information System geographical database

The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database that contains name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features located throughout the United States of America and its territories. It is a type of gazetteer. GNIS was developed by the United States Geological Survey in cooperation with the United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) to promote the standardization of feature names.

See also

Related Research Articles

Cumberland River river in the United States of America

The Cumberland River is a major waterway of the Southern United States. The 688-mile-long (1,107 km) river drains almost 18,000 square miles (47,000 km2) of southern Kentucky and north-central Tennessee. The river flows generally west from a source in the Appalachian Mountains to its confluence with the Ohio River near Paducah, Kentucky, and the mouth of the Tennessee River. Major tributaries include the Obey, Caney Fork, Stones, and Red rivers.

Current River (Ozarks) river in Missouri, United States

The Current River forms in the southeastern portion of the Ozarks of Missouri and becomes a 7th order stream as it flows southeasterly out of the Ozarks into northeastern Arkansas where it becomes a tributary of the Black River, which is a tributary of the White River, a tributary of the Mississippi River. The Current River is approximately 184 miles (296 km) long and drains about 2,641 square miles (6,840 km2) of land mostly in Missouri and a small portion of land in northeastern Arkansas. The headwaters of the Current River are nearly 900 feet (270 m) above sea level, while the mouth of the river lies around 280 feet (85 m) above sea level. The basin drains a rural area that is dominated by karst topography, underlain by dolomite and sandstone bedrock with a small area of igneous rock southeast of Eminence, Missouri. The annual daily mean discharge of the river near Doniphan, Missouri is 2,815 cubic feet (79.7 m3) per second. In 1964, over 134 mi (160 km) of the upper course of the river and its tributaries were federally protected as the Ozark National Scenic Riverways, the first national park in America to protect a river system.

The Little Harpeth River is a 16.3-mile-long (26.2 km) tributary of the Harpeth River in Tennessee, just south of Nashville. Via the Harpeth, Cumberland, and Ohio rivers, it is part of the Mississippi River watershed.

The Piney River is a 23.7-mile-long (38.1 km) tributary of the Duck River in Middle Tennessee in the United States. Via the Duck River, the Tennessee River, and the Ohio River, it is part of the Mississippi River watershed. The headwater tributaries of the Piney River rise in Dickson County, Tennessee, near the city of Dickson. Dickson is located on the "Tennessee Valley Divide", which corresponds for some distance with the downtown's Main Street. The western part of the town, the part in the Tennessee Valley, is drained by the East Piney River, a tributary to the Piney.

Collins River river in the United States of America

The Collins River is a 67-mile-long (108 km) stream in the east-central portion of Middle Tennessee in the United States. It is a tributary of the Caney Fork, and is part of the Cumberland, Ohio and Mississippi watersheds. The river drains the scenic Savage Gulf area, located just below the river's source, and empties into Great Falls Lake at Rock Island State Park.

Rocky River (Tennessee) river in Tennessee, United States of America

The Rocky River is a 31.0-mile-long (49.9 km) stream in the east-central portion of Middle Tennessee in the United States. It is a tributary of the Caney Fork River, and is part of the Cumberland, Ohio and Mississippi watersheds. The lower portion of the river is part of the reservoir created by Great Falls Dam, which is located near the river's confluence with the Caney Fork.

Falling Water River river in the United States of America

The Falling Water River is a 46.8-mile-long (75.3 km) stream in the east-central portion of Middle Tennessee in the United States. It rises just west of Monterey at the edge of the Cumberland Plateau, and traverses the Eastern Highland Rim before dropping off to the Nashville Basin and emptying into Center Hill Lake along the Caney Fork. The river is noted for the 136-foot (41 m) Burgess Falls, which it spills over near the end of its course.

Clear Fork (Big South Fork Cumberland River tributary) river in the United States of America

The Clear Fork is a 27.2-mile-long (43.8 km) stream draining part of the Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee, United States. It is a tributary of the Big South Fork of the Cumberland River. By that river, the Cumberland River, and the Ohio River, it is part of the Mississippi River watershed.

Big South Fork of the Cumberland River river in the United States of America

The Big South Fork of the Cumberland River is a 76-mile-long (122 km) river in the U.S. states of Tennessee and Kentucky. It is a major drainage feature of the Cumberland Plateau, a major tributary of the Cumberland River system, and the major feature of the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area.

Caney Fork River river in the United States of America

The Caney Fork River is a river that flows through central Tennessee in the United States, draining a substantial portion of the southwestern Cumberland Plateau and southeastern Highland Rim regions. It is a major tributary of the Cumberland River, and is part of the Cumberland, Ohio and Mississippi basins. The river is 143 miles (230 km) long, and its watershed covers 1,771 square miles (4,590 km2) in eleven counties. Monterey, Baxter, Sparta, Smithville, McMinnville, Altamont, Spencer and Gordonsville are among the towns that are at least partially drained by the river.

Obed River river in the United States of America

Obed River is a stream draining a part of the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee. It, and particularly its tributaries, are important streams for whitewater enthusiasts.

Mad River (Ohio)

The Mad River is a stream located in the west central part of the U.S. state of Ohio. It flows 66 miles (106 km) from Logan County to downtown Dayton, where it meets the Great Miami River. The stream flows southwest from its source near Campbell Hill through West Liberty, along U.S. Route 68 west of Urbana, past Springfield, then along Ohio State Route 4 into Dayton. The stream's confluence with the Great Miami River is in Deeds Park.

Paint Creek (Scioto River tributary) river in the United States of America

Paint Creek is a tributary of the Scioto River, 94.7 mi (152.5 km) long, in south-central Ohio in the United States. Via the Scioto and Ohio Rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River. It drains an area of 1,143 mi² (2960 km²).

Ozone Falls State Natural Area

Ozone Falls State Natural Area is a state natural area in Cumberland County, Tennessee, located in the Southeastern United States. It consists of 43 acres (0.17 km2) centered on Ozone Falls, a 110-foot (34 m) plunge waterfall, and its immediate gorge along Fall Creek. Because of its picturesque beauty and easy access, Disney selected Ozone Falls for filming scenes for the live action movie The Jungle Book. The area is managed by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and maintained by Cumberland Mountain State Park. It is also part of the Cumberland Trail State Park.

Succor Creek

Succor Creek is a 69.4-mile-long (111.7 km) tributary of the Snake River in the U.S. states of Idaho and Oregon. The creek begins in the Owyhee Mountains in Owyhee County, Idaho. After flowing for about 23 miles (37 km) in Idaho, Succor Creek enters Malheur County, Oregon, where it flows for 39 miles (63 km) before re-entering Idaho for its final 5 miles (8.0 km). It joins the Snake near Homedale, about 413 river miles (665 km) from the larger river's confluence with the Columbia River.

Big Piney River river in the United States of America

The Big Piney River is a 110-mile-long (180 km) tributary of the Gasconade River in south central Missouri in the United States. Via the Gasconade and Missouri rivers, it is part of the Mississippi River basin.

Big Piney Creek is a river located in Ozark National Forest in the state of Arkansas. It is a tributary of the Arkansas River and therefore part of the Mississippi River watershed. Managed by the United States Forest Service, it flows for 70.8 miles (113.9 km) through Pope, Johnson and Newton counties. The headwaters of the creek are in a rugged, remote area just east of Arkansas Route 21 south of the community of Fallsville and the mouth of the creek empties into Lake Dardanelle on the Arkansas River.

Sweetwater Creek is a tributary stream of the Tennessee River located in McMinn, Monroe, and Loudon counties in eastern Tennessee.

Mill Creek is a stream in Phelps County in the Ozarks of Missouri. It is a tributary of Little Piney Creek.

References

  1. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey. Pennine quadrangle, TN. 1:24,000. 7.5 Minute Series. Washington D.C.: USGS, 1990.
  2. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey. Spring City quadrangle, TN. 1:24,000. 7.5 Minute Series. Washington D.C.: USGS, 1990.
  3. ↑ "Piney Falls Class II Natural-Scientific State Natural Area". Tennessee Natural Areas Program. Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation . Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  4. ↑ Colburn, Kevin (20 April 2016). "Soak Creek is Tennessee's Newest Scenic River". American Whitewater. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  5. ↑ Jamison, Frank. "Piney River Segment". Cumberland Trails Conference. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  6. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Piney River

Coordinates: 35°39′14″N84°46′59″W / 35.65396°N 84.78300°W / 35.65396; -84.78300

Geographic coordinate system Coordinate system

A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position and two or three of the numbers represent a horizontal position; alternatively, a geographic position may be expressed in a combined three-dimensional Cartesian vector. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation. To specify a location on a plane requires a map projection.


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