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The Cumberland River is a major waterway of the Southern United States. The 〔U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. (The National Map ), accessed June 8, 2011〕 river drains almost of southern Kentucky and north-central Tennessee. The river flows generally west from a source in the Appalachian Mountains to its confluence with the Ohio River near Paducah, Kentucky, and the mouth of the Tennessee River. Major tributaries include the Obey, Caney Fork, Stones, and Red rivers. Although the Cumberland River basin is predominantly rural, there are also some large cities on the river, including Nashville and Clarksville, both in Tennessee. In addition, the river system has been extensively developed for flood control, with major dams impounding both the main stem and many of its important tributaries. ==Geography== Its headwaters are three separate forks that begin in Kentucky and converge in its Harlan County. Martin's Fork starts in Hensley Settlement on Brush Mountain in Bell County and snakes its way north through the mountains to Baxter. Clover Fork starts on Black Mountain in Holmes Mill, near the Virginia border, and flows west in parallel with Kentucky Route 38 until it reaches Harlan. Clover Fork once flowed through downtown Harlan and merged with Martin's Fork at the intersection of Kentucky Route 38 and US Route 421, until a flood control project in 1992 diverted it through a tunnel under Little Black Mountain, from which it emerges in Baxter and converges with Martin's Fork. Poor Fork begins as a small stream on Pine Mountain in Letcher County near Flat Gap, Virginia. It flows southwest in parallel with Pine Mountain until it merges with the other two forks in Baxter. From there, the wider river continues flowing west through the mountains of Kentucky and then turns northward toward Cumberland Falls. The falls is one of the largest waterfalls in the southeastern United States and is one of the few places in the Western Hemisphere where a moonbow can be seen.〔(Cumberland Falls Moonbow ) Retrieved on 2010-05-29〕 Beyond Cumberland Falls, the river turns abruptly west once again and continues to grow as it converges with other creeks and streams. It receives the Laurel and Rockcastle Rivers from the northeast and then the Big South Fork of the Cumberland River from the south. From here it flows into the man-made Lake Cumberland, formed by Wolf Creek Dam. The more than reservoir is one of the largest artificial lakes in the eastern US. Near Celina, the river crosses south into Tennessee, where it is joined by the Obey River and Caney Fork. Northeast of Nashville, the river is dammed twice more, forming Cordell Hull Lake and Old Hickory Lake. After flowing through Nashville and picking up the Stones River, the river is dammed to form Cheatham Lake. The river turns northwest toward Clarksville, where it is joined by the Red River, and then flows back into Kentucky at the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, a section of land nestled between Lake Barkley, which is fed by the Cumberland River, and Kentucky Lake. Finally, the river flows north and merges with the Ohio River at Smithland, northeast of Paducah. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Cumberland River」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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