The Elk is formed in the
Allegheny Mountains in
Pocahontas County by the confluence of two short streams, the Big Spring Fork and the Old Field Fork, which join near the community of
Slatyfork. It flows above ground for several miles before it sinks into a network of caverns and flows underground for more than five miles. The old riverbed of solid rock, however, remains above ground in this section known as "The Dries." It follows a generally westward course across the unglaciated
Allegheny Plateau, through
Randolph,
Webster,
Braxton,
Clay, and
Kanawha Counties, past the towns of
Webster Springs,
Sutton,
Gassaway,
Clay,
Clendenin, and
Elkview before joining the Kanawha River at
Charleston. At Sutton, a
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers concrete
dam causes the Elk to form
Sutton Lake. The Elk's largest tributaries are the
Holly River and the
Birch River, both of which join it in Braxton County. The upper portion of the river, above Sutton Lake, is a popular coldwater trout stream. Some reports of a 2013
Wake Forest University study of
selenium contamination in Sutton Lake in North Carolina (allegedly due to coal ash from the Sutton power plant of
Duke Energy). erroneously attributed this contamination to Sutton Lake in West Virginia. Sutton Lake in North Carolina is on the Cape Fear River; whereas Sutton Lake in West Virginia is on the Elk River, an entirely different river drainage basin. Below Sutton Lake, is a high-gradient warmwater fishery well known for its muskellunge, walleye and smallmouth bass fishing. The Elk River serves as the source of water for 1500 miles of pipeline that carry its water to customers in central and southwestern West Virginia. ==Name==