The
Edisto River is the longest completely undammed / unleveed
blackwater riverA blackwater river is a river with a deep, slow-moving channel that flows through forested swamps and wetlands. As vegetation decays in the water, tannins are leached out, resulting in transparent, acidic water that is darkly stained, resembling tea or coffee...
in
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
, flowing 206 meandering miles from its sources in
SaludaSaluda may refer to:* Saluda, Indiana* Saluda, North Carolina* Saluda, South Carolina* Saluda County, South Carolina* Saluda, Virginia* Saluda, a Native-American Indian tribe* Saluda River, in South Carolina...
and
EdgefieldEdgefield may refer to:* Edgefield, Norfolk, United KingdomIn the United States:* Edgefield, Louisiana* Edgefield, South Carolina* Edgefield County, South Carolina...
counties, to its
Atlantic OceanThe Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres , it covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface and about one-quarter of its water surface area. The first part of its name refers to the Atlas of Greek...
mouth at Edisto Beach, SC. It rises in two main tributaries (North Fork & South Fork) from springs under the
SandhillsThe Sandhills is a region in the interior of the U.S. states of North Carolina and South Carolina. It is a strip of ancient beach dunes which generally divides the Piedmont from the coastal plain, and is the evidence of a former coastline when the ocean level was higher, or the land lower...
region of West Central
South CarolinaSouth Carolina is a U.S. state that borders Georgia to the south and North Carolina to the north. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence from the British Crown during the American Revolution. The colony was...
, just to the south of the
PiedmontPiedmont is a plateau region located in the eastern United States between the Atlantic Coastal Plain and the main Appalachian Mountains, stretching from New Jersey in the north to central Alabama in the south. The Piedmont province is a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian division. The...
fall lineIn geomorphology, a fall line marks the area where an upland region and a coastal plain meet. Technically, a fall line is an unconformity. A fall line is typically prominent when crossed by a river, for there will often be rapids or waterfalls...
. It is the longest and largest river system completely contained by the borders of
South CarolinaSouth Carolina is a U.S. state that borders Georgia to the south and North Carolina to the north. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence from the British Crown during the American Revolution. The colony was...
.
The
Edisto River is the longest completely undammed / unleveed
blackwater riverA blackwater river is a river with a deep, slow-moving channel that flows through forested swamps and wetlands. As vegetation decays in the water, tannins are leached out, resulting in transparent, acidic water that is darkly stained, resembling tea or coffee...
in
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
, flowing 206 meandering miles from its sources in
SaludaSaluda may refer to:* Saluda, Indiana* Saluda, North Carolina* Saluda, South Carolina* Saluda County, South Carolina* Saluda, Virginia* Saluda, a Native-American Indian tribe* Saluda River, in South Carolina...
and
EdgefieldEdgefield may refer to:* Edgefield, Norfolk, United KingdomIn the United States:* Edgefield, Louisiana* Edgefield, South Carolina* Edgefield County, South Carolina...
counties, to its
Atlantic OceanThe Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres , it covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface and about one-quarter of its water surface area. The first part of its name refers to the Atlas of Greek...
mouth at Edisto Beach, SC. It rises in two main tributaries (North Fork & South Fork) from springs under the
SandhillsThe Sandhills is a region in the interior of the U.S. states of North Carolina and South Carolina. It is a strip of ancient beach dunes which generally divides the Piedmont from the coastal plain, and is the evidence of a former coastline when the ocean level was higher, or the land lower...
region of West Central
South CarolinaSouth Carolina is a U.S. state that borders Georgia to the south and North Carolina to the north. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence from the British Crown during the American Revolution. The colony was...
, just to the south of the
PiedmontPiedmont is a plateau region located in the eastern United States between the Atlantic Coastal Plain and the main Appalachian Mountains, stretching from New Jersey in the north to central Alabama in the south. The Piedmont province is a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian division. The...
fall lineIn geomorphology, a fall line marks the area where an upland region and a coastal plain meet. Technically, a fall line is an unconformity. A fall line is typically prominent when crossed by a river, for there will often be rapids or waterfalls...
. It is the longest and largest river system completely contained by the borders of
South CarolinaSouth Carolina is a U.S. state that borders Georgia to the south and North Carolina to the north. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence from the British Crown during the American Revolution. The colony was...
. Its name comes from the Edisto subtribe of the
CusaboThe Cusabo were a group of Native Americans who lived along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean in what is now South Carolina, approximately between present-day Charleston and the Savannah River...
Indians.
Near the coast, part of the river was once known as the Ponpon River. The Dawhoo River (sometimes Dawho, or Dawhoe) connects the Edisto to the North Edisto River, where the Wadmalaw River and the Toogoodoo River confluence and meet the Atlantic Ocean. Between the coast and the Dawhoo River, the river is known as the South Edisto River.
The Edisto system flows through only one major town or city,
OrangeburgOrangeburg, also known as "The Garden City," is the principal city and county seat of Orangeburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city population was 12,765 at the 2000 census , within a Greater Orangeburg population of approximately 45,000...
, the location of Edisto Gardens (on the North Fork). The river system, being blackwater throughout its entire length, flows through highly intermittent bottom swampland. Thus, during an excessively rainy season, the river will leave its main channel, with its flow basin increasing to over a mile or more of total width. The lower Edisto basin forms a crucial part of the 11,815 acre (48 km²)
ACE Basin National Wildlife RefugeThe Ernest F. Hollings ACE Basin National Wildlife Refuge was created in 1990 as part of a joint effort with federal and state government agencies, private conservation groups and local landowners to preserve and protect the ACE Basin area...
. This coastal learning center has an area that encompasses its bottomlands confluence with the Ashepoo and Combahee river basins.
A major tributary is
Four Holes SwampFour Holes Swamp is a small blackwater river that is a tributary to the Edisto River in South Carolina. The swamp rises in Calhoun County and flows to the confluence, in an unusual braided pattern; it has no well-defined channel, but multiple channels that start and disappear, yet maintain a...
, which is unique in that it has no single defined channel, but rather a network of braided channels.
See also
External links