Arkansas
River 
The Arkansas River is a major
tributary
of the Mississippi River. The Arkansas generally flows to the east and southeast,
and traverses the states of
Colorado,
Kansas,
Oklahoma,
and Arkansas.
At 1450 miles (2334 km) it is the fourth longest river in the
United States. Its origin is in the
Colorado
Rockies in
Lake County near
Leadville, and its outlet is at the historic site of
Napoleon, Arkansas. It is the 2nd longest tributary in the
Mississippi-Missouri system, with a drainage basin of nearly 195,000 sq. mi.
(505,000 km²) (See
watershed maps:
1) In terms of volume it is smaller than both the Missouri and Ohio, with a
mean discharge of 8,460 cfs. It is navigable by barges and large river craft
thanks to a series of dams that turn it into reservoirs, from its mouth to Tulsa
Oklahoma. From Tulsa to near its headwaters it is navigable by small craft such
as rafts, canoes, and kayaks.The Arkansas has three distinct characters in its
long path through central
North
America.At its headwaters the Arkansas runs as a steep mountain torrent
through the Rockies, dropping 4600 feet (1.4 km) in 120 miles (193 km). At
Cañon City, Colorado, it leaves the mountains and enters
Royal
Gorge.This section sees extensive
Whitewater rafting in the spring and summer.For most of its length through
the rest of Colorado and Kansas, it is a typical
Great
Plains riverway, with wide shallow banks, subject to seasonal flooding.
Tributaries include the
Cimarron River flowing from NE
New Mexico
and the
Salt Fork Arkansas River Important
cities along the Lower Arkansas include:
Wichita, Kansas,
Tulsa, Oklahoma, and
Little Rock, Arkansas.The
I-40 Bridge Disaster of May 2002 took place on I-40's
crossing of the Arkansas River near
Webbers Falls, Oklahoma.
(Source by
Wikipedia)
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