| Double Mountain Fork Brazos River | |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | United States |
| Subdivision Type2: | State |
| Subdivision Name2: | Texas |
| Length: | 280km (170miles) |
| Source1: | Llano Estacado, 18.5 km southeast of Tahoka, Texas |
| Source1 Location: | Lynn County, Texas |
| Source1 Coordinates: | 33.0553°N -101.6381°W |
| Source1 Elevation: | 890m (2,920feet) |
| Mouth: | Confluence Double Mountain / Salt Fork |
| Mouth Location: | Stonewall County, Texas |
| Mouth Coordinates: | 33.2675°N -100.0106°W |
| Mouth Elevation: | 451m (1,480feet) |
| Basin Size: | 7097km2[1] |
The Double Mountain Fork Brazos River is an ephemeral, sandy-braided stream about 280abbr=onNaNabbr=on long, heading on the Llano Estacado of West Texas about 18.5abbr=onNaNabbr=on southeast of Tahoka, Texas, flowing east-northeast across the western Rolling Plains to join the Salt Fork, forming the Brazos River about 18miles west-northwest of Haskell, Texas.[2]
The Double Mountain Fork Brazos River begins as a shallow draw near the eastern edge of the Llano Estacado in Lynn County, about 5abbr=onNaNabbr=on northeast of the small farming community of Draw, Texas. The stream generally runs eastward across southern Garza County, where it is fed by springs, providing a minimal base flow that is intermittently punctuated by rainfall and associated runoff.[3] At the western edge of Kent County, about 20abbr=onNaNabbr=on east-northeast of Justiceburg, the Double Mountain Fork merges with the North Fork. The Double Mountain Fork then continues eastward across southern Kent County, northwestern Fisher County, and into southern Stonewall County, where it passes to the south of Double Mountains, a pair of flat-topped hills located 21abbr=onNaNabbr=on southwest of Aspermont, Texas. Double Mountains form part of the high ground dividing the watersheds of the Salt Fork to the north and the Double Mountain Fork to the south. To the east of Double Mountains, the Double Mountain Fork flows into western Haskell County before turning north and back westward into eastern Stonewall County, where it merges with the Salt Fork to form the Brazos River (proper), northeast of Aspermont, Texas.[4]
According to a 1964 decision by the United States Board on Geographical Names, this tributary of the Brazos is properly called the "Double Mountain Fork Brazos River", and should not be called the "Double Mountain Fork of the Brazos River" nor the "Double Mountain Fork of Brazos River".[2] This stream is often mistakenly referred to as the "South Fork of the Double Mountain Fork of the Brazos River."[5] [6] Perhaps this is an attempt to distinguish this stream from the North Fork Double Mountain Fork Brazos River, a tributary of the Double Mountain Fork. The stream described here, however, is the main stem of the Double Mountain Fork Brazos River and, therefore, it is not a tributary of the Double Mountain Fork, rather it is a tributary of the Brazos River.