Little Stony Creek (North Fork Shenandoah River tributary)

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Coordinates: 38°53′40″N 78°39′55″W / 38.894349°N 78.665279°W / 38.894349; -78.665279
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Little Stony Creek
A medium-sized river about ten feet across, flowing through a deeply cut gully with steep banks. The river cut exposes the rockiness of the ground. The rocks appear to be falling into the river as it continues to erode the gully. Trees on the bank are leaning into the gully and a thick forest fades off into the background. It is fall and the trees are bare and the forest floor is covered in colorful leaves.
Little Stony Creek north of the West End Reservoir, viewed from the Little Stony Creek Trail, 12 November 2017.
Location
CountryUnited States
StateVirginia
CountyShenandoah County
Physical characteristics
Mouth 
 • location
Stony Creek
 • coordinates
38°53′40″N 78°39′55″W / 38.894349°N 78.665279°W / 38.894349; -78.665279
Length6.8 miles (10.9 km)
Basin features
WaterbodiesWest End Reservoir
GNIS feature ID1487056[1]

Little Stony Creek is a 6.8 mile long river in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is a first-order tributary of the North Fork Shenandoah River and the Potomac River.

Physical description[edit]

The headwater of Little Stony Creek is at an altitude of about 3,000 feet, in a ravine between Sugar Knob and Mill Mountain, a few hundred feet from the Virginia-West Virginia border, about three miles northeast of Big Schloss.

West End Reservoir[edit]

A photograph of concrete dam. The dam appears to have been poured in blocks, so the face is rectangular splotches with some blocks different colors than the others. Oozing water and algae highlight the cracks between the blocks. A thin river of white water cascades down the spillway into a pond at the foot of the dam. A valve at the foot of the dam looks like a pagoda. Rocks and debris are accumulated in the foreground. An autumnal hill rises above the reservoir in the background.
The Town of Woodstock, West End Reservoir Dam, 10 November 2017

At River Mile 1.9, Little Stony Creek is dammed by the West End Reservoir Dam (Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation inventory number 17104 / Army Corps of Engineers National Inventory of Dams ID number VA17104). The dam is 388 feet long and 44 feet high[2] and impounds 18 million gallons of water[3] that used to be the water source for the nearby town of Woodstock. The dam was built in 1957–1958. Use of the reservoir was discontinued in 1979 and the town now draws its water from the North Fork Shenandoah River.[4]

Wolf Gap Recreation Area[edit]

The river is accessible by the Little Stony Creek Trail, which is part of the Wolf Gap Recreation Area.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Little Stony Creek". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. ^ Army Corps of Engineers (n.d.). National Inventory of Dams, CorpsMap (Report). VA17104. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  3. ^ Bradford, Larry (2011), Request for Proposals: Dam Break Inundation Zone Study and Mapping, West End Reservoir Dam, Town of Woodstock, Virginia, p. 1, retrieved 21 November 2017
  4. ^ Town of Woodstock (2007). "Chapter 6: Community Facilities". Comprehensive Plan: 2007 Update (Report). Town of Woodstock, Virginia. p. 3. Retrieved 21 November 2017.

External links[edit]

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