| Meramec River | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Path of the Meramec River [1] | |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Missouri |
| Region | Ozarks |
| Cities | Steelville, Missouri, Sullivan, Missouri, Pacific, Missouri, Valley Park, Missouri, Arnold, Missouri |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Dent County, Missouri |
| • coordinates | 37°30′29″N 91°19′39″W / 37.50806°N 91.32750°W |
| • elevation | 1,075 ft (328 m) |
| Mouth | Mississippi River |
• location | Arnold, Missouri |
• coordinates | 38°23′26″N 90°20′40″W / 38.39056°N 90.34444°W |
• elevation | 350 ft (110 m) |
| Length | 229 mi (369 km) |
| Basin size | 3,980 sq mi (10,300 km2) |
| Discharge | |
| • location | Eureka, Missouri |
| • average | 3,318 cu/ft. per sec.[1] |
| Basin features | |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | Bourbeuse River |
| • right | Big River |
The Meramec River (/ˈmɛrɪmæk/), sometimes spelled Maramec River (the original US mapping spelled it Maramec but later changed it to Meramec), is one of the longest free-flowing waterways in the U.S. state of Missouri, draining 3,980 square miles (10,300 km2)[2] while wandering 218 miles (351 km)[3] from headwaters southeast of Salem to where it empties into the Mississippi River near St. Louis at Arnold and Oakville. The Meramec watershed covers six Missouri Ozark Highland counties—Dent, Phelps, Crawford, Franklin, Jefferson, and St. Louis—and portions of eight others—Maries, Gasconade, Iron, Washington, Reynolds, St. Francois, Ste. Genevieve, and Texas. Between its source and its mouth, it falls 1,025 feet (312 m). Year-round navigability begins above Maramec Spring, just south of St. James. The Meramec's size increases at the confluence of the Dry Fork, and its navigability continues until the river enters the Mississippi at Arnold, Missouri.
- ^ "USGS Surface Water data for Missouri: USGS Surface-Water Annual Statistics".
- ^ Blanc, Caldwell, and Hawk. "Location"
- ^ Blanc, Caldwell, and Hawk. "Executive Summary"