Double Mountain Fork Brazos River

This article is about Double Mountain Fork Brazos River. For North Fork Double Mountain Fork Brazos River, see Yellow House Canyon.

Coordinates: 33°16′03″N 100°00′38″W / 33.2675°N 100.01056°W / 33.2675; -100.01056

Double Mountain Fork Brazos River
West Texas
Double Mountain Fork, Garza County, Texas
Country	United States
State	Texas
Location	Lynn, Garza, Kent, Fisher, Haskell, Stonewall Counties
Source	Llano Estacado, 18.5 km southeast of Tahoka, Texas
- location	Lynn County, Texas
- elevation	890 m (2,920 ft)
- coordinates	33°03′19″N 101°38′17″W / 33.05528°N 101.63806°W / 33.05528; -101.63806
Mouth	Confluence Double Mountain / Salt Fork
- location	Stonewall County, Texas
- elevation	451 m (1,480 ft) [1]
- coordinates	33°16′03″N 100°00′38″W / 33.2675°N 100.01056°W / 33.2675; -100.01056
Length	280 km (174 mi)
Basin	7,097 km2 (2,740 sq mi) [2]
Website: Handbook of Texas: Double Mountain Fork

The Double Mountain Fork Brazos River is an ephemeral, sandy-braided stream about 280 km (170 mi) long, heading on the Llano Estacado of West Texas about 18.5 km (11.5 mi) southeast of Tahoka, Texas, flowing east-northeast across the western Rolling Plains to join the Salt Fork, forming the Brazos River about 27 km (17 mi) west-northwest of Haskell, Texas.^[3]

Geography

The Double Mountain Fork Brazos River begins as a slight depression near the eastern edge of the Llano Estacado in Lynn County, about 5 km (3.1 mi) northeast of the small farming community of Draw, Texas. The stream generally runs eastward across southern Garza County, where it is fed by springs, providing a minimal base flow that is intermittently punctuated by rainfall and associated runoff.^[4] At the western edge of Kent County, approximately 20 km (12 mi) east-northeast of Justiceburg, the Double Mountain Fork merges with the North Fork Double Mountain Fork. The Double Mountain Fork then continues eastward across southern Kent County, northwestern Fisher County and into southern Stonewall County, where it passes to the south of Double Mountain, a pair of flat-topped hills located 21 km (13 mi) southwest of Aspermont, Texas. Double Mountain forms part of the high ground dividing the watersheds of the Salt Fork to the north and the Double Mountain Fork to the south. To the east of Double Mountain, the Double Mountain Fork flows into western Haskell County, before turning north and back westward into eastern Stonewall County where it merges with the Salt Fork to form the Brazos River (proper), northeast of Aspermont, Texas.^[5]

Proper name

According to a 1964 decision by the United States Board on Geographical Names, this tributary of the Brazos is properly called the Double Mountain Fork Brazos River, and should not be called the Double Mountain Fork of the Brazos River or Double Mountain Fork of Brazos River.^[3]

See also

• Brazos River
• Yellow House Canyon
• White River (Texas)
• Blanco Canyon
• Double Mountain (Texas)
• Caprock Escarpment

References

1. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Double Mountain Fork Brazos River
2. ^ Seaber, P.R., Kapinos, F.P. and Knapp, G.L. 1987. Hydrological unit maps. United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 2294, p. 46.
3. ^ ^{a b} United States Board on Geographical Names. 1964. Decisions on Geographical Names in the United States, Decision list no. 6402, United States Department of the Interior, Washington DC, p. 51.
4. ^ Brune, G.M. 1981. Springs of Texas. Fort Worth, TX: Branch-Smith, p. 193-195.
5. ^ "Double Mountain Fork of the Brazos River". Handbook of Texas Online. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/DD/rnd4.html. Retrieved 2010-02-19.