Salt River (Arizona)
| Salt River | |
|---|---|
Lower Salt River, near the Phoenix metropolitan area | |
Map of the Salt River watershed | |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Arizona |
| Counties | Gila & Maricopa |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Confluence of White and Black Rivers |
| • location | White Mountains, Arizona |
| • coordinates | 33°44′20″N 110°13′32″W / 33.73889°N 110.22556°W |
| • elevation | 11,400 ft (3,500 m) |
| Mouth | Gila River |
• location | Phoenix |
• coordinates | 33°22′52″N 112°18′47″W / 33.38111°N 112.31306°W |
• elevation | 928 ft (283 m) |
| Length | 200 mi (320 km) |
| Basin size | 13,700 sq mi (35,000 km2) |
| Discharge | |
| • location | USGS gage 09498500, Salt River near Roosevelt, AZ |
| • average | 879 cu ft/s (24.9 m3/s) |
| • minimum | 59 cu ft/s (1.7 m3/s) |
| • maximum | 143,000 cu ft/s (4,000 m3/s) |
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The Salt River (Spanish: Río Salado, O'odham [Pima]: Onk Akimel, Yavapai: Hakanyacha or Hakathi:, Maricopa language: Va Shly'ay) is a river in Gila and Maricopa counties in Arizona, United States, that is the largest tributary of the Gila River. The river is about 200 miles (320 km) long. Its drainage basin covers about 13,700 square miles (35,000 km2). The longest of the Salt River's many tributaries is the 195-mile (314 km) Verde River. The Salt's headwaters tributaries, the Black River and East Fork, increase the river's total length to about 300 miles (480 km). The name Salt River comes from the river's course over large salt deposits shortly after the merging of the White and Black Rivers.