Pocomoke River

Pocomoke River
River
Country	United States
State	Delaware, Maryland, & Virginia
Region	Delmarva Peninsula
Tributaries
- left	Dividing Creek, Nassawango Creek, Givens Branch, Aydelotte Branch
- right	Pitts Creek, Pilchard Creek, Mattaponi Creek, Corkers Creek
Source	Great Cypress Swamp
Mouth	Pocomoke Sound
- elevation	0 ft (0 m)
Length	66 mi (106 km), northeast-to-southwest
Map of the rivers of the Eastern Shore of Maryland with the Pocomoke and its watershed highlighted.

The Pocomoke River stretches approximately 66 miles (106 km) from southern Delaware through southeastern Maryland in the United States. At its mouth, the river is essentially an arm of Chesapeake Bay, whereas the upper river flows through a series of relatively inaccessible wetlands called the Great Cypress Swamp, largely populated by Loblolly Pine, Red Maple and Bald Cypress. The river is the easternmost river that flows into Chesapeake Bay. “Pocomoke” local /ˈpoʊkoʊmoʊk/, though traditionally interpreted as "dark (or black) water" by local residents, is now agreed by scholars of the Algonquian languages to be derived from the words for "broken (or pierced) ground."

It rises in several forks in the Great Cypress Swamp in southern Sussex County, Delaware. From there, it flows south into Maryland, forming the boundary between Wicomico and Worcester counties and flowing through the swamps that are named for the river. At Porter's Crossing it turns southwest, broadening into a slow meandering river, flowing past the town of Snow Hill, and then through the Pocomoke River State Forest and past Pocomoke River State Park. It then flows past Pocomoke City, and enters Pocomoke Sound on the Chesapeake Bay on the state line between Maryland and Virginia.