The
Mad River is a
streamA stream is a flowing body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, kill, lick, rill, river syke, bayou, rivulet, or run...
located in the west central part of the
U.S. stateA U.S. state is any one of 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government . Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile...
of
OhioOhio is a Midwestern state of the United States. The thirty-fourth largest state by area in the U.S., it is the seventh-most populous with nearly 11.5 million residents...
. It flows nearly 60 miles (97 km) from
Logan CountyLogan County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States. As of 2000, the population was 46,005. The county seat is Bellefontaine. The county is named for Benjamin Logan, who fought Native Americans in the area....
, to downtown
DaytonDayton is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, in the southwestern part of the state. The population was 166,179 at the 2000 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 848,153 in the 2000 census. Dayton is the fourth largest...
, where it meets the
Great Miami RiverThe Great Miami River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately long, in southwestern Ohio in the United States.The Great Miami flows through Dayton, Piqua, Troy, and Sidney....
. The stream flows southwest from its
sourceThe source or headwaters of a river or stream is the place from which the water in the river or stream originates.-Definition:More specifically, a source is defined as the most distant point in the drainage basin from which water runs year-around, or, alternatively, the furthest point from which...
near Campbell Hill through
West LibertyWest Liberty is a village in Logan County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,813 at the 2000 census.-Geography:West Liberty is located at ....
, along
U.S. Route 68U.S. Route 68 is an east-west United States highway that runs for from northwest Ohio to western Kentucky. The highway's western terminus is at U.S. Route 62 in Reidland, Kentucky...
west of
UrbanaUrbana is a city in and the county seat of Champaign County, Ohio, United States, 47 miles west of Columbus. Urbana was laid out in 1805, and for a time in 1812 was the headquarters of the Northwestern army. Urbana was named after a town in Virginia. It is the burial-place of the Indian fighter...
, past
SpringfieldSpringfield is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Clark County. The municipality is located in southwestern Ohio and is situated on the Mad River, Buck Creek and Beaver Creek, approximately 45 miles west of Columbus and 25 miles northeast of Dayton...
(the point of confluence with
Buck Creek-Watercourses:*Buck Creek , an Iowa tributary of the Upper Mississippi River*Buck Creek , an Alabama tributary of the Cahaba River*Buck Creek , an Oklahoma tributary of the Kiamichi River...
), then along Ohio State Route 4 into Dayton. The stream's
confluenceConfluence may refer to:* Confluence , the point where two or more bodies of water meet and merge* Confluence , the streamline air flow convergence of a fluid air parcel...
with the
Great Miami RiverThe Great Miami River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately long, in southwestern Ohio in the United States.The Great Miami flows through Dayton, Piqua, Troy, and Sidney....
is in Deeds Park.
The Mad River was one of the Great Miami River
tributariesA tributary is a stream or river which flows into a main stem river. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea. Tributaries and the mainstem river serve to drain the surrounding drainage basin of its surface water and groundwater by leading the water out into an ocean or some other large body...
that flooded during the
Great Dayton FloodThe Great Dayton Flood of 1913 flooded Dayton, Ohio, and the surrounding area with water from the Great Miami River, causing the greatest natural disaster in Ohio history...
of 1913, resulting in the creation of the
Miami Conservancy DistrictThe Miami Conservancy District is a river management agency operating in Southwest Ohio to control flooding of the Great Miami River and its tributaries. It was organized in 1914 following the catastrophic flood of the Great Miami River in March 1913, which hit Dayton, Ohio, particularly hard,...
.
Historically, the stream has also been known by the names
Mad Creek and
Tiber River, respectively, as well as by the Croatian name
Fiume Mad (lit.
The
Mad River is a
streamA stream is a flowing body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, kill, lick, rill, river syke, bayou, rivulet, or run...
located in the west central part of the
U.S. stateA U.S. state is any one of 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government . Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile...
of
OhioOhio is a Midwestern state of the United States. The thirty-fourth largest state by area in the U.S., it is the seventh-most populous with nearly 11.5 million residents...
. It flows nearly 60 miles (97 km) from
Logan CountyLogan County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States. As of 2000, the population was 46,005. The county seat is Bellefontaine. The county is named for Benjamin Logan, who fought Native Americans in the area....
, to downtown
DaytonDayton is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, in the southwestern part of the state. The population was 166,179 at the 2000 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 848,153 in the 2000 census. Dayton is the fourth largest...
, where it meets the
Great Miami RiverThe Great Miami River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately long, in southwestern Ohio in the United States.The Great Miami flows through Dayton, Piqua, Troy, and Sidney....
. The stream flows southwest from its
sourceThe source or headwaters of a river or stream is the place from which the water in the river or stream originates.-Definition:More specifically, a source is defined as the most distant point in the drainage basin from which water runs year-around, or, alternatively, the furthest point from which...
near Campbell Hill through
West LibertyWest Liberty is a village in Logan County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,813 at the 2000 census.-Geography:West Liberty is located at ....
, along
U.S. Route 68U.S. Route 68 is an east-west United States highway that runs for from northwest Ohio to western Kentucky. The highway's western terminus is at U.S. Route 62 in Reidland, Kentucky...
west of
UrbanaUrbana is a city in and the county seat of Champaign County, Ohio, United States, 47 miles west of Columbus. Urbana was laid out in 1805, and for a time in 1812 was the headquarters of the Northwestern army. Urbana was named after a town in Virginia. It is the burial-place of the Indian fighter...
, past
SpringfieldSpringfield is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Clark County. The municipality is located in southwestern Ohio and is situated on the Mad River, Buck Creek and Beaver Creek, approximately 45 miles west of Columbus and 25 miles northeast of Dayton...
(the point of confluence with
Buck Creek-Watercourses:*Buck Creek , an Iowa tributary of the Upper Mississippi River*Buck Creek , an Alabama tributary of the Cahaba River*Buck Creek , an Oklahoma tributary of the Kiamichi River...
), then along Ohio State Route 4 into Dayton. The stream's
confluenceConfluence may refer to:* Confluence , the point where two or more bodies of water meet and merge* Confluence , the streamline air flow convergence of a fluid air parcel...
with the
Great Miami RiverThe Great Miami River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately long, in southwestern Ohio in the United States.The Great Miami flows through Dayton, Piqua, Troy, and Sidney....
is in Deeds Park.
The Mad River was one of the Great Miami River
tributariesA tributary is a stream or river which flows into a main stem river. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea. Tributaries and the mainstem river serve to drain the surrounding drainage basin of its surface water and groundwater by leading the water out into an ocean or some other large body...
that flooded during the
Great Dayton FloodThe Great Dayton Flood of 1913 flooded Dayton, Ohio, and the surrounding area with water from the Great Miami River, causing the greatest natural disaster in Ohio history...
of 1913, resulting in the creation of the
Miami Conservancy DistrictThe Miami Conservancy District is a river management agency operating in Southwest Ohio to control flooding of the Great Miami River and its tributaries. It was organized in 1914 following the catastrophic flood of the Great Miami River in March 1913, which hit Dayton, Ohio, particularly hard,...
.
Historically, the stream has also been known by the names
Mad Creek and
Tiber River, respectively, as well as by the Croatian name
Fiume Mad (lit. "Mad River").
The first road between Cincinnati and Dayton that opened up the "Mad River Country" to European settlement was the
Mad River RoadMad River Road was the first overland route between Dayton, Ohio and Cincinnati, Ohio. It was cut by Daniel C. Cooper in 1795 to provide access to the new town of Dayton and the "Mad River Country" northeast and north of Dayton. It was located at the mouth of the Mad River in the Symmes Purchase....
, cut in 1797. Today, a ski resort named
Mad River MountainMad River Mountain is a ski and snowboard resort in Valley Hi, Ohio, United States. The elevation of Mad River Mountain is 1460 feet, and it has a ski season that runs from December 1 through March 16. The resort, which opened in 1962, is owned and operated by Peak Resorts.There are 23 trails of...
is located near the stream's source.
Mad River is the largest
coldwaterColdwater fish, in the context of aquariums, refers to fish species that prefer cooler water temperatures than tropical fish, typically below . Some examples are koi and goldfish...
fisheryGenerally, a fishery is an entity engaged in raising and/or harvesting fish, which is determined by some authority to be a fishery. According to the FAO, a fishery is typically defined in terms of the "people involved, species or type of fish, area of water or seabed, method of fishing, class of...
in Ohio. It is a native home of the
brook troutThe brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis, is a species of fish in the salmon family of order Salmoniformes. In many parts of its range, it is known as the speckled trout or squaretail. A potamodromous population in Lake Superior are known as coaster trout or, simply, as coasters...
, and is one of the few fisheries in Ohio in which brook trout survive. The
Ohio Department of Natural ResourcesOhio Department of Natural Resources was created in 1949 by the Ohio Legislature.
's Division of Wildlife periodically stocked Mad River with
rainbow troutThe rainbow trout is a species of salmonid native to tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America as well as much of the central, western, eastern, and especially the northern portions of the United States...
from 1931 until 1984, when the organization began stocking the stream with
brown troutThe brown trout and the sea trout are fish of the same species....
instead. The natural trout population suffers low reproduction rates due to sedimentation from channelization, extensive agricultural
runoffSurface runoff is the water flow which occurs when soil is infiltrated to full capacity and excess water, from rain, snowmelt, or other sources flows over the land. This is a major component of the hydrologic cycle. Runoff that occurs on surfaces before reaching a channel is also called a nonpoint...
, and diminishing habitat.