Virgin River

Virgin River
Virgen River, Rio de la Virgen
Virgin River in Zion National Park
Country	United States
States	Nevada, Utah, Arizona
Part of	North and East Forks Virgin River
Tributaries
- left	Fort Pearce Wash
- right	Ash Creek, Santa Clara River, Beaver Dam Wash, Toquop Wash
Source	confluence of East Fork and North Fork
- location	Navajo Reservoir, Dixie National Forest, Utah
- elevation	3,763 ft (1,147 m)
- coordinates	37°9′44″N 113°0′51″W / 37.16222°N 113.01417°W / 37.16222; -113.01417
Mouth	Colorado River
- location	Lake Mead, Lake Mead National Recreation Area
- elevation	1,204 ft (367 m)
- coordinates	36°8′46″N 114°24′59″W / 36.14611°N 114.41639°W / 36.14611; -114.41639Coordinates: 36°8′46″N 114°24′59″W / 36.14611°N 114.41639°W / 36.14611; -114.41639
Length	162 mi (261 km)
Basin	12,250 sq mi (31,727 km2) approx.
Discharge	for St. George, Utah
- average	183 cu ft/s (5 m3/s)
- max	55,000 cu ft/s (1,557 m3/s)
- min	0 cu ft/s (0 m3/s)
Map of the Virgin River watershed

The Virgin River is a tributary of the Colorado River in the U.S. states of Utah, Nevada, and Arizona. The river is about 162 miles (261 km) long. It was designated Utah's first wild and scenic river in 2009, during the centennial celebration of Zion National Park.

The river is named for Thomas Virgin, a member of the first American party to see it, led by Jedediah Smith in 1826. Smith named it "Adams River", after then-president John Quincy Adams, but later explorer and mapmaker John C. Fremont gave it its current name. After the Smith party successfully descended the river on the way to California, Thomas Virgin was badly wounded in an attack by Mohave people during the crossing of the Mojave Desert. Virgin recovered from his wounds but was later killed, along with most of Smith's companions, in an attack by Umpqua people (in present-day Oregon).

The Old Spanish Trail followed the Virgin River for part of its length from near St. George to the point it ascended the Mormon Plateau to cross to the Muddy River in present-day Nevada.

Its origin is in Southwestern Utah, at the Navajo Reservoir in the Dixie National Forest, north of Zion National Park, and is formed by the confluence of the East Fork Virgin, that flows through Mount Carmel Junction on the east side of Zion National Park and Parunaweap Canyon, with the North Fork Virgin River, that flows from Navajo Lake through Zion Canyon in Zion National Park. The river flows in a southwesterly direction, passing south of the old townsite of St. George where the Santa Clara River joins the Virgin at a place the Paiutes called Tonaquint. The river then flows across the northwestern corner of Arizona through the Virgin River Gorge and past the towns of Beaver Dam and Littlefield. It enters southern Nevada near the town of Mesquite and empties into the Colorado at the Lake Mead reservoir, approximately 40 miles (64 km) east of Las Vegas. The last 30 miles (48 km) of the Virgin River forms the north arm of Lake Mead.