Clarks River

Clarks River, named for William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, is a small tributary of the Tennessee River located in the Jackson Purchase region of Western Kentucky. For the greater part of its length, it consists of two parallel forks of approximately equal size, the East Fork and the West Fork. The East Fork begins west of Murray, Kentucky in Calloway County and is paralleled by a railroad. The West Fork begins about 4 miles west of Murray, KY near the intersection of Jones-Sparkman and Butterworth Roads in Calloway County and flows through Kaler, KY and Symsonia, KY in Graves County before joining with the east fork at Oaks Station, KY in McCracken County, KY.

Clarks River streaks from Murray (in Calloway County, KY) through Benton (in Marshall County, KY) and ends in Paducah (McCracken County, KY), where the mouth of the River intersects with the Tennessee River. This River is full of wildlife and full of the cottonmouth water moccasin.

Clarks River National Wildlife Refuge is the only National Wildlife Refuge located solely within the State of Kentucky.

The most significant resource values of this area are the wetland habitat complexes formed by the river, creeks, beaver ponds, and natural ponding.

This natural wetland ecosystem is relatively intact and has high wildlife habitat values, particularly for migratory birds and other species representative of bottomland hardwood systems.

The hardwood dominated forests are used as breeding, wintering, and migration habitat by many species of neotropical migratory birds.

The East Fork of Clarks River is a

comparatively slow-moving river due

to the area’s low topography and flat

floodplains.

It is also

one of the

few rivers

in the area

that has

not been

dammed

or

channelized.

Native warm season grass

habitat, made up of grass species

such as big bluestem, little bluestem,

and switchgrass.

Timbered shoreline, weedlines, brush, stumps.