Mispillion River | |
---|---|
Location | |
Country | United States |
State | Delaware |
Counties | Kent Sussex |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | confluence of Beaverdam and Tantrough Branches at Blairs Pond |
• location | near Milford |
• coordinates | 38°52′53″N 75°30′00″W / 38.88139°N 75.50000°W[1] |
• elevation | 29 ft (8.8 m)[2] |
Mouth | Delaware Bay |
• location | near Mispillion Light |
• coordinates | 38°57′05″N 75°18′48″W / 38.95139°N 75.31333°W[1] |
• elevation | 0 ft (0 m)[1] |
Length | 15 mi (24 km)approximately[3] |
Basin size | 76 sq mi (200 km2)[4] |
Discharge | |
• average | 91.77 cu ft/s (2.599 m3/s) at mouth with Delaware Bay[5] |
Basin features | |
Progression | Delaware Bay → Atlantic Ocean |
River system | Delaware Bay |
Tributaries | |
• left | Beaverdam Branch Lednum Branch Mullet Run Swan Creek Fishing Branch Beaverdam Branch Kings Causeway Branch Crooked Gut |
• right | Tantrough Branch Johnson Branch Bowman Branch Deep Branch |
Waterbodies | Blairs Pond Griffith Lake Haven Lake Silver Lake |
The Mispillion River is a river flowing to Delaware Bay in southern Delaware in the United States. It is approximately 15 miles (24 km) long and drains an area of 76 square miles (200 km2) on the Atlantic Coastal Plain.
It rises in northern Sussex County, approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) southwest of Milford, and flows generally east-northeastwardly, defining the boundary between Sussex and Kent counties; it passes through the center of Milford on its course to its mouth at Delaware Bay, 16 miles (26 km) northwest of Cape Henlopen.[3][6] The lower 12 miles (19 km) of the river are considered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to be navigable.[7]
A boardwalk known as the Mispillion Riverwalk follows the river in Milford. As of 2003[update], an effort was underway to preserve a greenway along the river upstream and downstream of Milford.[8]