Amargosa River
The Amargosa River is an intermittent waterway, 185 miles (298 km) long, in southern Nevada and eastern California in the United States. It drains a high desert region, the Amargosa Valley in the Amargosa Desert northwest of Las Vegas, into the Mojave Desert, and finally into Death Valley where it disappears into the ground aquifer. Except for a small portion of its route in the Amargosa Canyon in California and a small portion at Beatty, Nevada, the river flows above ground only after a rare rainstorm washes the region. A 26-mile (42 km) stretch of the river between Shoshone and Dumont Dunes is protected as a National Wild and Scenic River. At the south end of Tecopa Valley the Amargosa River Natural Area protects the habitat.
| Amargosa River | |
|---|---|
Amargosa River at Tecopa, California | |
Location of the mouth of the Amargosa River in California | |
| Etymology | Spanish word for "bitter" |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Nevada, California |
| County | Nye, San Bernardino, and Inyo |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Pahute Mesa |
| • location | Oasis Valley, Nye County, Nevada |
| • coordinates | 37°04′20″N 116°41′19″W |
| • elevation | 3,964 ft (1,208 m) |
| Mouth | Death Valley |
• location | Badwater Basin, Inyo County, California |
• coordinates | 36°14′37″N 116°51′24″W |
• elevation | −282 ft (−86 m) |
| Length | 185 mi (298 km) |
| Basin size | 5,500 sq mi (14,000 km2) |
| Discharge | |
| • location | 0.2 miles (0.3 km) west of Tecopa |
| • average | 3.8 cu ft/s (0.11 m3/s) |
| • minimum | 0 cu ft/s (0 m3/s) |
| • maximum | 10,600 cu ft/s (300 m3/s) |
National Wild and Scenic River | |
| Type | Wild, Scenic, Recreational |
| Designated | March 30, 2009 |
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