Shenandoah River facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Shenandoah River |
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 Crossing the Shenandoah River in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia
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| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| States | Virginia, West Virginia |
| Tributaries | |
| - left | North Fork |
| - right | South Fork |
| Towns | Harper's Ferry, WV, Front Royal, VA, Luray, VA |
| Primary source | North Fork |
| - location | Shenandoah Mountain |
| Secondary source | South Fork |
| - location | Port Republic |
| Source confluence | |
| - location | Front Royal, VA |
| Mouth | Potomac River |
| - location | Harpers Ferry |
| - elevation | 250 ft (76 m) |
| - coordinates | 39°19′21″N 77°43′40″W / 39.3225°N 77.727778°W |
| Length | 56 mi (90 km) |
| Basin | 2,937 sq mi (7,607 km²) |
| Discharge | for Millville, WV |
| - average | 2,755 cu ft/s (78 m³/s) |
The Shenandoah River is a tributary of the Potomac River, 55.6 miles (89.5 km) long with two forks approximately 100 miles (160 km) long each. One is in the U.S. states of Virginia while the other in West Virginia.
The river and its tributaries drain the central and lower Shenandoah River valley. They also drain the Page Valley in the Appalachians on the west side of the Blue Ridge Mountains, in northwestern Virginia and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia.
Geology
The Shenandoah Valley sits on limestone. The fertile soil made it an attractive place for early settlement. It continues to be a major agricultural area of Virginia and West Virginia.
Some karst topography is evident, and the limestone has a great number of caves. Several have been developed as commercial tourist attractions. These include Luray Caverns, Shenandoah Caverns, and the Skyline Caverns.
On the riverbank a few miles above Harpers Ferry, West Virginia is said to be a cave with an opening just large enough for a rider on horseback to squeeze through. It widened in the interior to a spacious room where hundreds of Col. John Mosby's raiding troops are said to have hidden from pursuing Union cavalry.
Images for kids
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Moonlight on the Shenandoah, engraving by J.D. Woodward
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The South Fork Shenandoah River, with Massanutten Mountain in the background, as viewed from an overlook in Shenandoah River State Park.
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View of the North Fork Shenandoah River near Woodstock, Virginia.
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The confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers, at Harpers Ferry
See also
In Spanish: Río Shenandoah para niños
