Powell River (Virginia)
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The Powell River is a 195-mile-long river in the United States that rises in
Southwest Virginia Southwest Virginia, often abbreviated as SWVA, is a mountainous region of Virginia in the westernmost part of the commonwealth. Located within the broader region of western Virginia, Southwest Virginia has been defined alternatively as all V ...
and flows southwest into
East Tennessee East Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. Geographically and socioculturally distinct, it comprises approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee. East Tennessee consists of 33 coun ...
. The South Fork of the river rises in rural
Wise County, Virginia Wise County is a county located in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county was formed in 1856 from Lee, Scott, and Russell Counties and named for Henry A. Wise, who was the Governor of Virginia at the time. The county seat is in Wise. Hi ...
, near the Laurel Grove community northwest of Norton and flows for several miles before the
confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...
with Roaring Fork in the Kent Junction community. From Kent Junction the river flows until it meets the North Fork of the river near Woodway, Virginia. The North Folk originates near Keokee, Virginia. The river flows past
Big Stone Gap, Virginia Big Stone Gap is a town in Wise County, Virginia, United States. The town was economically centered around the coal industry for much of its early development. The population was 5,254 at the 2020 census. History The community was formerly kn ...
, and then runs nearly the entire length of
Lee County, Virginia Lee County is the westernmost county in the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 22,173. Its county seat is Jonesville. History The area of far western Virginia and eastern Kentucky supported large Arch ...
. It drains approximately 954 square miles (2,471 km2) in both Virginia and Tennessee before reaching its confluence with the
Clinch River The Clinch River is a river that flows southwest for more than through the Great Appalachian Valley in the U.S. states of Virginia and Tennessee, gathering various tributaries, including the Powell River, before joining the Tennessee River in ...
in the
Norris Lake Norris Lake, also known as Norris Reservoir, is a reservoir in Tennessee, US. The lake was created by the Norris Dam at the Cove Creek Site on the Clinch River in 1936 by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) for flood control, water storage, an ...
reservoir at the site of the town of Grantsboro, Tennessee. The Powell River was named for Ambrose Powell who accompanied the exploration party of Dr. Thomas Walker in the mid-18th century. Legend has it that his name appeared so frequently carved on trees in the valley of this river that later explorers and early pioneers came to call the stream "Powell's River" and the valley "Powell's Valley". The Powell River was designated by the
Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency may refer to the following government organizations: * Environmental Protection Agency (Queensland), Australia * Environmental Protection Agency (Ghana) * Environmental Protection Agency (Ireland) * Environmenta ...
(EPA) as the "second most biologically diverse aquatic system in the nation." The Powell is under pressure from the effects of
mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...
(including
strip mining Surface mining, including strip mining, open-pit mining and mountaintop removal mining, is a broad category of mining in which soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit (the overburden) are removed, in contrast to underground mining, in which ...
),
logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidder, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or trunk (botany), logs onto logging truck, trucks
Lincoln Memorial University Lincoln Memorial University (LMU) is a private university in Harrogate, Tennessee and Knoxville, Tennessee. Its Harrogate main campus borders on Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. , it had 1,605 undergraduate and 4,200 graduate and profe ...
operates the Powell River Aquatic Research Station, which is located where
Tennessee State Route 63 State Route 63 (SR 63) is an east–west state highway in the northern portion of eastern Tennessee. It goes from U.S. Route 27 (US 27) in Huntsville to SR 33 in Sneedville, running . SR 63 is a primary route west of US 25E in Harrogate; t ...
crosses the river at the Brooks Bridge in
Claiborne County, Tennessee Claiborne County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 32,043. Its county seat is Tazewell and its largest city is Harrogate. History Claiborne County was established on October 29, 18 ...
. The center allows for on-site research of water quality, flora, fauna and related habitat. Fishing in the Powell River can be great in some areas; in Wise County the
Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) is a state agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia responsible for the management and conservation of wildlife and inland fish, as well as the regulation of hunting, fishing, and boating activiti ...
stocks trout in the shallow rushing waters of the Middle Fork under a "delayed harvest" designation. Downstream from Lee County, the river is home to
smallmouth bass The smallmouth bass (''Micropterus dolomieu'') is a species of freshwater fish in the Centrarchidae, sunfish family (biology), family (Centrarchidae) of the order (biology), order Centrarchiformes. It is the type species of its genus ''Micropterus ...
,
largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus nigricans'') is a carnivorous, freshwater fish, freshwater, ray-finned fish in the Centrarchidae (sunfish) family, native to the eastern United States, eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada an ...
, red eye bass,
bluegill The bluegill (''Lepomis macrochirus''), sometimes referred to as "bream", "brim", "sunny", or, in Texas, "copper nose", is a species of North American freshwater fish, native to and commonly found in streams, rivers, lakes, ponds and wetlands ea ...
,
carp The term carp (: carp) is a generic common name for numerous species of freshwater fish from the family (biology), family Cyprinidae, a very large clade of ray-finned fish mostly native to Eurasia. While carp are prized game fish, quarries and a ...
,
red horse Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineer (RED HORSE) squadrons are the United States Air Force's heavy-construction units. Their combat engineering capabilities are similar to those of the U.S. Navy Seabees and U ...
s,
walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', Synonym (taxonomy), synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the walleyed pike, yellow pike, yellow pikeperch or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern ...
,
sauger The sauger (''Sander canadensis'') is a freshwater perciform fish of the family Percidae that resembles its close relative, the walleye. The species is a member of the largest vertebrate order, the Perciformes.Jaeger, Matthew. 2004. Montana's ...
and even musky. A lot of people kayak the river and even wade to fish. In July 2024, the
Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolin ...
(TVA) and the
Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) is a state agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia responsible for the management and conservation of wildlife and inland fish, as well as the regulation of hunting, fishing, and boating activiti ...
(DWR) celebrated improved stream access to the Powell River in Jonesville, Virginia. After completing the projects, kayakers and anglers could easily get to the water in three areas along the Powell River that had been inaccessible by public land areas.


See also

*
List of Tennessee rivers This is a list of rivers of the U.S. state of Tennessee: By drainage basin This list is arranged by drainage basin, with respective tributaries indented under each larger stream's name. All rivers in Tennessee ultimately flow to the Gulf of Mex ...
*
List of Virginia rivers This is a list of rivers in the U.S. state of Virginia. By drainage basin This list is arranged by drainage basin, with respective tributaries, arranged in the order of their confluence from mouth to source, indented under each larger stream's nam ...


References

{{authority control Rivers of Tennessee Rivers of Virginia Rivers of Claiborne County, Tennessee Rivers of Union County, Tennessee Rivers of Campbell County, Tennessee Rivers of Lee County, Virginia Rivers of Wise County, Virginia