Salt River (Arizona)

Salt River
Lower Salt River, near the Phoenix metropolitan area
Map of the Salt River watershed
Location
Country	United States
State	Arizona
Counties	Gila & Maricopa
Physical characteristics
Source	Confluence of White and Black Rivers
• location	White Mountains, Arizona
• coordinates	33°44′20″N 110°13′32″W / 33.73889°N 110.22556°W / 33.73889; -110.22556[1]
• elevation	11,400 ft (3,500 m)[2]
Mouth	Gila River
• location	Phoenix
• coordinates	33°22′52″N 112°18′47″W / 33.38111°N 112.31306°W / 33.38111; -112.31306[1]
• elevation	928 ft (283 m)[1]
Length	200 mi (320 km)[2]
Basin size	13,700 sq mi (35,000 km2)[3]
Discharge
• location	USGS gage 09498500, Salt River near Roosevelt, AZ[4]
• average	879 cu ft/s (24.9 m3/s)[4]
• minimum	59 cu ft/s (1.7 m3/s)
• maximum	143,000 cu ft/s (4,000 m3/s)

The Salt River (Spanish: Río Salado, O'odham [Pima]: Onk Akimel, Yavapai: Hakanyacha or Hakathi:, Maricopa language: Va Shly'ay^[5]) is a river in Gila and Maricopa counties in Arizona, United States, that is the largest tributary of the Gila River.^[2] The river is about 200 miles (320 km) long.^[6] Its drainage basin covers about 13,700 square miles (35,000 km²).^[3] The longest of the Salt River's many tributaries is the 195-mile (314 km) Verde River. The Salt's headwaters tributaries, the Black River and East Fork, increase the river's total length to about 300 miles (480 km). The name Salt River comes from the river's course over large salt deposits shortly after the merging of the White and Black Rivers.^[7][8]