The Kings River is a tributary of the Quinn River

Quinn River

The Quinn River, once known as the Queen River, is an intermittent river, approximately long, in the desert of northwestern Nevada in the United States. It drains an enclosed basin inside the larger Great Basin....

, about 40 mi (64.4 km) long, in northwestern Nevada

Nevada

Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...

 and south-central Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It drains a remote arid area of the northwestern Great Basin

Great Basin

The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds in North America and is noted for its arid conditions and Basin and Range topography that varies from the North American low point at Badwater Basin to the highest point of the contiguous United States, less than away at the...

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The river rises in northern Humboldt County, Nevada

Humboldt County, Nevada

Humboldt County is a county located in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of 2007, the population was estimated to be 18,052. Its county seat is Winnemucca.The county was the site of an arrest in 2000 that led to the U.S. Supreme Court decision Hiibel v...

, west of Disaster Peak in The Granites near the Oregon state line. Flowing northwest, it crosses briefly into Harney County, Oregon

Harney County, Oregon

-National protected areas:*Malheur National Forest *Malheur National Wildlife Refuge*Ochoco National Forest -Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 7,609 people, 3,036 households, and 2,094 families residing in the county. The population density was 1 people per square mile...

, then turns sharply south and re-enters Nevada for the rest of its course. It flows generally south between the Bilk Creek Mountains

Bilk Creek Mountains

The Bilk Creek Mountains are a mountain range in Humboldt County, Nevada and Harney County, Oregon....

 on the right (west) and the Montana Mountains

Montana Mountains

The Montana Mountains are a mountain range in Humboldt County, Nevada....

, then the Double H Mountains

Double H Mountains

The Double H Mountains are a mountain range in Humboldt County, Nevada....

 on the left. It joins the Quinn River from the north at Quinn River Lakes. The Quinn River flows southwest from the lake to end in a sink

Sink (geography)

A geographic sink is a depression within an endorheic basin where water collects with no visible outlet. Instead of discharging, the collected water is lost due to evaporation and/or penetration...

 in the Black Rock Desert

Black Rock Desert

The Black Rock Desert is an arid region in the northern Nevada section of the Great Basin with a lakebed that is a dry remnant of Pleistocene Lake Lahontan...

 west of Winnemucca

Winnemucca, Nevada

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 7,174 people, 2,736 households, and 1,824 families residing in the city. The population density was 867.5 people per square mile . There were 3,280 housing units at an average density of 396.6 per square mile...

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