Kings River (California)
| Kings River (Wim-mel-che) | |
| Rio de los Santos Reyes | |
| River | |
 The Kings River in the San Joaquin Valley about 10 miles (16 km) below Pine Flat Dam
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| Name origin: Derived from Rio Los Santos Reyes (River of the Holy Kings), a name given to the river by Gabriel Moraga | |
| Country | United States |
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| State | California |
| Regions | Kings Canyon National Park, Fresno County, California, Kings County, California |
| Tributaries | |
| - left | South Fork Kings River, Mill Creek |
| - right | Middle Fork Kings River, North Fork Kings River |
| Source | Confluence of Middle and South Forks |
| - elevation | 2,257 ft (688 m) |
| - coordinates | 36°50′17″N 118°52′29″W / 36.83806°N 118.87472°W |
| Mouth | Central Valley (either Tulare Lakebed or San Joaquin River) |
| - elevation | 184 ft (56 m) |
| - coordinates | 36°03′00″N 119°49′28″W / 36.05000°N 119.82444°WCoordinates: 36°03′00″N 119°49′28″W / 36.05000°N 119.82444°W |
| Length | 125 mi (201 km) |
| Basin | 1,693 sq mi (4,385 km2) |
| Discharge | for Piedra, California |
| - average | 2,287 cu ft/s (65 m3/s) |
| - max | 91,000 cu ft/s (2,577 m3/s) |
| - min | 0 cu ft/s (0 m3/s) |
 Map showing the course of the Kings River, with the drainage area above Centerville indicated
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The Kings River is a major river of south-central California. About 125 miles (201 km) long, it drains an area of the high western Sierra Nevada and the Central Valley. The headwaters originate at elevations of above 13,000 feet (4,000 m) along the Sierra crest, in and around Kings Canyon National Park. Further west in the foothills, the river is impounded in Pine Flat Lake, before flowing into the Central Valley south of Fresno, where most of its water is used for irrigation. The Kings River was named by the commander of a Spanish military expedition into the Central Valley in 1805.
A large alluvial fan has formed where the river's gradient decreases in the Central Valley so the river divides into distributaries. Southern distributaries enter the endorheic basin surrounding Tulare Lake while northern distributaries join the San Joaquin River, eventually reaching San Francisco Bay via the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta. Tulare Lake was formerly one of the largest freshwater lakes in western North America, but heavy water diversions have left it dry except in years of exceptionally heavy runoff.
It arises in the Sierra Nevada, consisting of three forks. The Middle and South Forks start in Kings Canyon National Park, while the North Fork starts in the John Muir Wilderness. The South Fork flows in Kings Canyon: a spectacular 8,000-foot (2,400 m) deep glacial valley. The forks join in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in Fresno County, California, where the river becomes an attraction for whitewater rafting (class 3 rapids). From that point, the Kings River flows about 125 miles (200 km) to the Tulare Lake bed, with a surface elevation at 56 m (184 ft), near Stratford, California. In the foothills, the water from the river is impounded at Pine Flat Dam.
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Wikipedia