The North Branch Potomac River flows from

Fairfax Stone Fairfax Stone Historical Monument State Park is a West Virginia state park commemorating the Fairfax Stone, a surveyor's marker and boundary stone at the source of the North Branch of the Potomac River. The original stone was placed on Octobe ...

in West Virginia to its confluence with the South Branch Potomac River near Green Spring, West Virginia, where it turns into 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 ...

proper.

Course

From the Fairfax Stone, the North Branch Potomac River flows to the man-made Jennings Randolph Lake, an

impoundment Impoundment may refer to: Water control * The result of a dam, creating a body of water ** A reservoir, formed by a dam ** Coal slurry impoundment, a specialized form of such a reservoir used for coal mining and processing * Impounded dock, an en ...

designed for flood control and emergency water supply. Below the dam, the North Branch cuts a serpentine path through the eastern Allegheny Mountains. First, it flows northeast by the communities of Bloomington, Luke, and

Westernport Western Port, (Boonwurrung: ''Warn Marin'') commonly but unofficially known as Western Port Bay, is a large tidal bay in southern Victoria, Australia, opening into Bass Strait. It is the second largest bay in the state. Geographically, it is ...

in Maryland and then on by Keyser, West Virginia to

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic counties of England, historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th c ...

, Maryland. At Cumberland, the river turns southeast. downstream from its source, the North Branch is joined by the South Branch between Green Spring and South Branch Depot, West Virginia from whence it flows past Hancock, Maryland and turns southeast once more on its way toward Washington, D.C., and the

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 / ...

Water quality

Historically, the North Branch had highly acidic water due to waste from coal mining and paper production in the region. In 1969, one measuring station recorded a pH of 2.3, comparable to lemon juice. This regularly killed wildlife across a span. It was somewhat mitigated by the construction of the Bloomington Dam, which allowed for flow control based on density. The dam was constructed in 1981; by 1987, the pH had returned to the neutral range in some areas, but dissolved aluminum and manganese concentrations were still at toxic levels, which continued to impede full wildlife recovery. In 1990, Maryland installed lime dosers, devices which dispense alkaline lime into the river, to further mitigate acidity in problem spots. This was successful, and today fish can survive in the river again.

Tributaries

* Stony River (West Virginia) * Abram Creek (West Virginia) * Savage River (Maryland) *

Georges Creek Georges Creek may refer to: Places Australia *Georges Creek (Armidale Dumaresq), a tributary of the Macleay River in New South Wales In the United States * Maryland: ** George's Creek, Maryland, unincorporated community in Allegany County **George ...

(Maryland) ** Laurel Run (Maryland) * New Creek (West Virginia) * Limestone Run (West Virginia) * Warrior Run (Maryland) * Wills Creek (Pennsylvania/Maryland) ** Brush Creek (Pennsylvania) **

Little Wills Creek Little Wills Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 15, 2011 tributary of Wills Creek in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, in the United States.Gertler, Edward. '' ...

(Pennsylvania) *

Evitts Creek Evitts Creek may refer to: * Evitts Creek, Maryland, an unincorporated community *Evitts Creek (North Branch Potomac River) Evitts Creek is a tributary stream of the North Branch Potomac River in the U.S. states of Pennsylvania and Maryland. Th ...

(Maryland and Pennsylvania) *

Patterson Creek Patterson Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 tributary of the North Branch Potomac River in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle, in the United States ...

(West Virginia) ** Mill Creek (West Virginia) *

Dans Run Dans Run is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 15, 2011 non-navigable tributary stream of the North Branch Potomac River in Mineral County, West Virginia. Dans R ...

(West Virginia) *

Green Spring Run Green Spring Run is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed August 15, 2011 tributary stream of the North Branch Potomac River in Hampshire County in the U.S. state of West ...

(West Virginia)

References

{{reflist Rivers of West Virginia Rivers of Maryland Tributaries of the Potomac River