Water School

The Brazos River draw lies approximately 50 miles west of the Texas-New Mexico border beginning a watershed that stretches 1,050 miles and comprises 44,620 square miles, 42,000 of which are in Texas.  For a full-sized map, click here.

Forming the Brazos’ main stem when it joins with the Salt Fork in Stonewall County, this stretch of river begins near the Llano Estacado in Lynn County. The Double Mountain Fork gets its name from a geological feature nearby in Stonewall County.The river here is typically shallow and meandering. The land it passes through is mainly farm and ranchland and has little development. The fork extends about 213 river miles from its headwaters to where it joins the main stem. This fork also passes...

The Salt Fork of the Brazos River is one of three forks that meet to make up the main stem of the Brazos. The main stem begins when the Salt Fork joins the Double Mountain Fork near Aspermont in Stonewall County. The Salt Fork travels about 186 river miles from its beginning in Crosby County in West Texas, passing through Garza and Kent counties, to where it reaches the main stem.This segment of the Brazos River, which is usually intermittent and shallow, crosses geological formations exceedingl...

The Clear Fork is one of the longest tributaries of the Brazos River. It originates as a draw in Scurry County and runs for about 307 river miles through  Fisher, Jones, Shackelford, Haskell, Stephens, and Throckmorton counties before joining the river’s main stem in Young County north of Possum Kingdom Lake.For a full-sized map, click here.

The streambed of the Brazos River, and all tributaries in Texas, is state-owned and operated, meaning camping, picnicking and fishing are all legal here, including sandbars. Photo by Juan RamirezSandbars are described as offshore bars that can be partly or completely submerged in the river, according to Realonomics. They are formed by bits of sand, silt and sedimentary rock that are deposited by rip currents in the river, then piled onto the bar due to the backwash of the water. During drou...

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) is a federal scientific agency that works in biology, geography, geology and hydrology. USGS is the nation’s primary civilian mapping agency. The agency also monitors streams and other bodies of water across the country for flow and depth. Among its other activities, USGS also monitors earthquakes and volcanic activity.The USGS web site may be found by clicking here.