About White River

White River watershed

White River flows in two forks across most of central and southern Indiana, creating the largest watershed contained entirely within the state and draining all or part of nearly half of the counties in the Hoosier state. View a larger river and county map in a popup window.

The West Fork of White River begins in a farmer’s field in Randolph County, south of Winchester. For its first few miles, it travels north, then meanders west and gradually south through Muncie, Anderson, Noblesville, Fishers, Carmel, Indianapolis and Martinsville.

The Blue and Flatrock Rivers rise within a few miles of each other in Henry County in eastern Indiana. As it flows south, the Blue joins with Sugar Creek to become the Driftwood River, which meets the Flatrock in the city of Columbus. At this point, both waters have traveled about 100 miles. Their confluence forms the East Fork of White River.

Both forks of White River travel roughly south and west to meet in Daviess County, just above Petersburg. By then, the West Fork has traveled 273 miles; the East Fork, 162 (plus the 100 miles of the source rivers). At their confluence, the two forks are nearly equal in size.

Now doubled, the White journeys another 45 miles to its confluence with the Wabash River and a long, slow flow to the Ohio.

Materials at this web site are Copyright 2005–2008 Friends of the White River, Inc.