The Pigg River is a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

in south-west

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It is a

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

of the

Roanoke River The Roanoke River ( ) runs long through southern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina in the United States. A major river of the southeastern United States, it drains a largely rural area of the coastal plain from the eastern edge of the ...

, which flows to the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

via

Albemarle Sound Albemarle Sound () is a large estuary on the coast of North Carolina in the United States located at the confluence of a group of rivers, including the Chowan River, Chowan and Roanoke River, Roanoke. It is separated from the Atlantic Ocean b ...

. The Pigg River rises on Fivemile Mountain in western Franklin County and flows generally eastwardly through Franklin and Pittsylvania Counties, past the town of Rocky Mount. It joins the Roanoke River from the south (along a section of the Roanoke often known locally as the Staunton River) as part of the Leesville Reservoir, which is formed by a

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

on the Roanoke. Recently, several dams across the Pigg River have been removed. In 2017, the 100 year old power dam at Rocky Mount was breached to restore the historic flow and to improve the habitat of the Roanoke logperch, an endangered species. Other dams removed recently include the dam near the Rocky Mount Veterans Memorial Park in 2013, and the Wasena dam in 2009. The river is named for John Pigg, an early settler from Amelia County, Virginia, who in 1741 acquired 400 acres of land through which the unnamed river passed.

External links

Pigg River float trip route

References

* Rivers of Virginia Rivers of Franklin County, Virginia Rivers of Pittsylvania County, Virginia Tributaries of the Roanoke River {{Virginia-river-stub

See also

External links

References