For other uses, including other streams in West Virginia named Mill Creek, see Mill Creek

Mill Creek

- In Canada :*Mill Creek, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality*Mill Creek, Cumberland, Nova Scotia, in Cumberland country- In the United States :*Mill Creek, California, a town in Tehama County...

.

Mill Creek is a tributary

Tributary

A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...

 of the Ohio River

Ohio River

The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...

, 29.4 miles (47.3 km) long, in western West Virginia

West Virginia

West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

 in the United States

United States

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

. Via the Ohio, it is part of the watershed

Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

 of the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

, draining an area of 234 square miles (606.1 km²) on the unglaciated portion of the Allegheny Plateau

Allegheny Plateau

The Allegheny Plateau is a large dissected plateau area in western and central New York, northern and western Pennsylvania, northern and western West Virginia, and eastern Ohio...

. According to the Geographic Names Information System

Geographic Names Information System

The Geographic Names Information System is a database that contains name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features located throughout the United States of America and its territories. It is a type of gazetteer...

, it has also been known historically as Big Mill Creek.

Mill Creek is formed approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) east of the city of Ripley

Ripley, West Virginia

Ripley is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, West Virginia, United States.-Geography:Ripley is located at , along Mill Creek....

 in central Jackson County by the confluence of streams known as the Elk Fork and Little Mill Creek. The Elk Fork, 15.4 miles (24.8 km) long, rises in western Roane County

Roane County, West Virginia

As of the census of 2000, there were 15,446 people, 6,161 households, and 4,479 families residing in the county. The population density was 32 people per square mile . There were 7,360 housing units at an average density of 15 per square mile...

 and flows generally northwestward. Little Mill Creek, 11.1 miles (17.9 km) long, rises in northwestern Roane County and flows generally westward. Shortly downstream of their confluence, Mill Creek collects an 11.9 miles (19.2 km) long tributary known as the Tug Fork, which is formed in southern Jackson County by the confluence of the Bear Fork and Grasslick Creek, and flows northwestward, past the community of Statts Mills

Statts Mills, West Virginia

Statts Mills is an unincorporated community in Jackson County, West Virginia, United States. Statts Mills is located on the Tug Fork and County Route 36 southeast of Ripley. Statts Mills had a post office, which closed on July 30, 2005....

, joining Mill Creek from the south.

Mill Creek flows generally west-northwestward in a winding course through central and western Jackson County, through the city of Ripley, which may have been named for Harry Ripley, a traveling preacher said to have drowned in the creek in 1830. Downstream of Ripley, the stream passes through a broad valley in the vicinity of the community of Cottageville

Cottageville, West Virginia

Cottageville is an unincorporated community in western Jackson County, West Virginia, United States. It lies along West Virginia Route 331 northwest of the city of Ripley, the county seat of Jackson County. Established in 1858, its elevation is 594 feet...

 and flows into the Ohio River at the community of Millwood

Millwood, West Virginia

Millwood is an unincorporated community in northwestern Jackson County, West Virginia, United States, along the Ohio River at the mouth of Mill Creek. It lies along West Virginia Routes 2 and 62 northwest of the city of Ripley, the county seat of Jackson County. Its elevation is 577 feet...

. Approximately the lowermost 6 miles (9.7 km) of the stream consists of backwater

Backwater (river)

A backwater is a part of a river in which there is little or no current. It refers either to a branch of a main river which lies alongside it and then rejoins it or to a body of water in a main river which is backed up by an obstruction such as the tide or a dam.-Alternative channel:If a river has...

 caused by damming of the Ohio. A commercial port facility is located on the creek near its mouth, handling limestone, sand, gravel, aluminum, and salt.

According to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, approximately 74% of the Mill Creek watershed is forest

Forest

A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...

ed, mainly deciduous

Deciduous

Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...

. Approximately 25% is used for agriculture and pasture, and less than 1% is urban.

See also

• List of West Virginia rivers
• Staats Mill Covered Bridge
  Staats Mill Covered Bridge
  Staats Mill Covered Bridge, also known as Tug Fork Covered Bridge, is a historic wooden covered bridge near Ripley in Jackson County, West Virginia, United States. Built in 1887, the Staats Mill Covered Bridge originally crossed the Tug Fork of Big Mill Creek and was named for Enoch Staat's...
  
  
• Sarvis Fork Covered Bridge
  Sarvis Fork Covered Bridge
  Sarvis Fork Covered Bridge, also known as Sandyville Covered Bridge, is a historic covered bridge located near Sandyville, Jackson County, West Virginia. It was built in 1889-1890 for $64.00 by R. B. Cunningham and G.W. Staats, originally spanning John Carnahan's Fork, a branch of Mill Creek...