Broad Run (Occoquan River tributary) facts for kids

Broad Run is a river in Virginia, a state in the United States. It's about 38 miles (61 kilometers) long. This river is a "tributary," which means it's a smaller river that flows into a bigger one. Broad Run flows into the Occoquan River.

Broad Run starts in an area called Fauquier County. As it flows, it passes through a place known as Thoroughfare Gap. Long ago, around the mid-1800s, people described Broad Run as a small but very useful stream. It was especially good for powering mills, which used the river's flow to grind grain or saw wood.

It's important not to mix up this Broad Run with another river nearby. There's a different Broad Run that flows through Loudoun County, Virginia. That one is a tributary of the Potomac River, not the Occoquan River.

Eventually, the water from Broad Run makes its way to the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. A "watershed" is an area of land where all the water, like rain or melting snow, drains into a common body of water, such as a river, lake, or bay. So, Broad Run is part of the big system that feeds water into the Chesapeake Bay.