Did you know Oklahoma is totally encompassed within two large drainage basins? These are the Red River and the Arkansas River. The two bodies of water, as well as their many tributaries, flow into Oklahoma from all six of our neighboring states; however, all surface water leaves Oklahoma by way of the Red, Arkansas and Little Rivers, as well as Lee Creek. Most rivers and tributaries flow generally to the east and southeast across the state. Oklahoma has approximately 78,603 miles of river; we break down the details of some of the state’s most notable of these.
Arkansas River
The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas and Arkansas. The river’s source basin lies in Colorado, specifically the Arkansas River Valley.
The headwaters derive from the snowpack in the Sawatch and Mosquito mountain ranges. It flows east into Kansas and finally through Oklahoma and Arkansas, where it meets the Mississippi River. Three major cities are situated along the banks of this river that drains nearly 160,500 square miles of land: Wichita, Kan.; Tulsa, and Little Rock, Ark.
At 1,469 miles, it is the sixth-longest river in the United States, the second-longest tributary in the Mississippi–Missouri system, and the 45th-longest river in the world.
Red River
The Red River is the second-largest river basin in the southern Great Plains. It rises in two branches in the Texas Panhandle and flows east, where it serves as the border between the states of Texas and Oklahoma.
It forms a short border between Texas and Arkansas before entering Arkansas, and forms much of the eastern border of Miller County, Ark., turning south near Fulton and flowing into Louisiana, where it feeds the Atchafalaya River.
The total length of the river is 1,360 miles, with a mean flow of over 57,000 cubic feet per second at the mouth.
Washita River
The Washita River forms in eastern Roberts County, Texas, near the town of Miami in the Texas panhandle. The river crosses Hemphill County, Texas, and enters Oklahoma in Roger Mills County. It cuts through the Oklahoma counties of Roger Mills, Custer, Washita, Caddo, Grady, Garvin, Murray, Carter and Johnston before emptying into Lake Texoma, which is the modern border between Bryan County and Marshall County.
The river bisects the heart of the Anadarko Basin, the fifth-largest natural gas formation area in the United States. When the river reaches the Arbuckle Mountains, it drops 30 feet per mile as it cuts through Big Canyon, a limestone gorge 300 feet deep.
The Washita’s river bed is made up of unstable mud and sand, and its banks are composed of steeply incised and erosive red earth. This makes it one of the most silt-laden streams in North America.
Salt Fork Red River
The Salt Fork Red River is a sandy-braided stream about 193 miles long, heading on the Llano Estacado of west Texas about 1.8 miles north of Claude of Armstrong County, Texas, flowing east across the Texas Panhandle and western Oklahoma to join the Red River about 13 miles south of Altus in Jackson County.
The Salt Fork Red River rises in northern Armstrong County, Texas, just to the south of Carson County. It flows southeast across Donley and Collingsworth County, crossing into Oklahoma at the 100th meridian. It then flows through Harmon County and Greer County, turning south near Mangum, and flows through central Jackson County, to its confluence with the Red River.
