Scioto River

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Scioto River
The Scioto River at Chillicothe
Origin	Near New Hampshire, Ohio
Mouth	Ohio River near Portsmouth
Basin countries	USA
Mouth elevation	485 ft (148 m)
Avg. discharge	6,674 ft³/s (189 m³/s) ^[1]
Basin area	6,517 mi² (16,879 km²) ^[2]

The Scioto River (pronounced sigh-OH-tuh)(IPA pronunciation: [ˌsaɪ'oʊɾo] or [ˌsaɪ'oʊɾə]) is a river in central and southern Ohio more than 231 miles (372 km) in length ^[3] . It rises in Auglaize County in west central Ohio, flows through Columbus, where it collects its largest tributary, the Olentangy River, and meets the Ohio River at Portsmouth. Too small for modern commercial shipping, its primary economic importance is for recreation and drinking water.

The lower Scioto River valley is very large compared to the width of the river itself and is extensively farmed. Meltwaters from retreating Ice Age glaciers carved the valley exceptionally wide. Valley bottoms are smooth and flood deposits created during and since the most recent Ice Age cause floodplain soils to be very productive. As a result, farms line much of the lower Scioto where it flows through low, rolling hills covered in hardwood trees.

The Scioto River valley was home to many Native American cultures. The best known group is the Mound Builders of the Hopewell culture, and today a large number of their burial mounds can be seen near Chillicothe at the Hopewell Culture National Historic Park. The former strength of these cultures is demonstrated in settler accounts from as far east as Virginia. A book, Trans-Allegheny Pioneers, is a compilation of historical events surrounding the move west across the Allegheny Mountains. Settlers reaching the Virginia-West Virginia border region in the late 17th century had many exciting encounters with Native American parties from their seat of power, the Scioto River valley.

Perspective view looking upstream of Scioto River valley near Portsmouth, Ohio. Region is known for its green and rolling hills. Brown region below skyline is above the glacial limit. That area was glaciated and meltwater flowed south and created the Scioto River. This was during and after the glaciers essentially wiped out the predecessor to the Scioto River, which was the Teays River.

The geologic history of the Scioto River is tied to the destruction of the Teays River network during the Ice Ages and consequent creation of the Ohio River. The north flowing Teays River was dammed by glaciers and damming of other rivers led to a series of floods as lakes overflowed into adjacent valleys. Valleys beyond the reach of glaciers were reorganized to create the Ohio River and the Scioto River replaced the Teays River. The Scioto River flows through segments of the Teays River valley, but opposite the direction the Teays River flowed. Satellite images show the relationship between the Scioto and Teays river valleys very clearly and are available in the Teays River article.