Shavers Fork of the

Cheat River The Cheat River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed August 15, 2011 tributary of the Monongahela River in eastern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania in the Un ...

is situated in the

Allegheny Mountains The Allegheny Mountain Range ( ) — also spelled Alleghany or Allegany, less formally the Alleghenies — is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada. Historically it represented a significant barr ...

of eastern

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

, USA. It is long and forms the Cheat at its

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 Black Fork at Parsons.

DeLorme DeLorme Publishing Company is a producer of personal satellite tracking, messaging, and navigation technology. The company's main product, ''inReach'', integrates GPS and satellite technologies. ''inReach'' provides the ability to send and rec ...

(1997). ''West Virginia Atlas & Gazetteer''. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. . It was traditionally considered one of the five

Forks of Cheat In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tines with which one can spear foods either to h ...

and its upper reaches constitute the highest river in the eastern United States.

Geography

Shavers Fork, via the Cheat, Monongahela and

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

Rivers, is part of the

watershed Watershed may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, an area of land where surface water converges (North American usage) Music * Watershed Music Festival, an annual country ...

of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

, draining an area of . It flows for much of its length through the

Monongahela National Forest The Monongahela National Forest is a U.S. National Forest, national forest located in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia, US. It protects over of federally managed land within a proclamation boundary that includes much of the Po ...

, and drains mostly

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically desc ...

and

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

ed areas. 97% of the river's basin is forested, and two-thirds of it is public land. Shavers Fork rises in north-central Pocahontas County at

Thorny Flat Thorny Flat () is the second highest peak in the U.S. state of West Virginia, after Spruce Knob. Thorny Flat is the high point of the ridge known as Cheat Mountain Cheat Mountain is an exceptionally high and rugged ridge situated in the Allegh ...

, highest peak of

Cheat Mountain Cheat Mountain is an exceptionally high and rugged ridge situated in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia, USA. It is about long (north to south) and more than five miles (8 km) wide at its widest. Its highest point is at its so ...

() and the site of

Snowshoe Mountain Snowshoe Mountain is a ski resort in the eastern United States, located in Snowshoe, West Virginia. The resort has skiable terrain across and covers a total area of in the Allegheny Mountains, which are a part of the vast Appalachian Mountain ...

ski resort. Its headwaters flow through the

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

Spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' ( ), a genus of about 40 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal (taiga) regions of the Northern hemisphere. ''Picea'' ...

. The river then flows generally north-northeastwardly through

Randolph Randolph may refer to: Places In the United States * Randolph, Alabama, an unincorporated community * Randolph, Arizona, a populated place * Randolph, California, a village merged into the city of Brea * Randolph, Illinois, an unincorporated com ...

and

Tucker Tucker may refer to: Places United States * Tucker, Arkansas * Tucker, Georgia * Tucker, Mississippi * Tucker, Missouri * Tucker, Utah, ghost town * Tucker County, West Virginia Outer space * Tucker (crater), a small lunar impact crater in ...

Counties, where its valley is the trough between Cheat Mountain (to the west) and Shavers Mountain (to the east). Settlements along its course include Cheat Bridge, Bemis, Bowden, and Porterwood. The "High Falls of Cheat" ( high) is a few miles upstream of Bemis. Shavers Fork ultimately joins the Black Fork at Parsons to form the Cheat at an elevation of .

Names

The creek was named after the local Shaver family. According to the

Geographic Names Information System The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and location information about more than two million physical and cultural features, encompassing the United States and its territories; the Compact of Free Association, asso ...

, Shavers Fork has also been known historically as: *Chavers Fork *Main Cheat River *Shafers Fork *Shaffers Fork of Cheat River *Shaver's Fork *Shavers Fork River *Shavers Fork of Cheat River

Recreation

Fishing

Multiple West Virginia stage record fish were caught along the Shavers Fork.

References

External links