| Salt Fork | |
|---|---|
 The Salt Fork near Ogden | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Confluence of the Upper Salt Fork drainage ditch and the Spoon River east of Champaign, Illinois[citation needed] |
| • coordinates | 40°09′09″N 88°01′54″W / 40.1525342°N 88.0317044°W |
| Mouth | |
• location | Confluence of the Salt Fork and the Middle Fork forming the Vermilion River west of Danville, Illinois |
• coordinates | 40°06′13″N 87°43′01″W / 40.1036474°N 87.716968°W |
• elevation | 531 ft (162 m) |
| Length | 68 mi (109 km) |
| Basin features | |
| Progression | Salt Fork → Vermilion → Wabash → Ohio → Mississippi → Gulf of Mexico |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | Spoon River |
| • right | Saline Branch |
| GNIS ID | 417900 |
The Salt Fork is a tributary of the Vermilion River located in the Central Corn Belt Plains of Illinois.[1]
The Salt Fork owes its name to saline springs that provided natural salt licks for animals, and which were used for production of salt by Native Americans and early settlers. The springs were located about eight miles west of Danville, to the south of Muncie, Illinois. The upper reaches of the Salt Fork do not contain saline springs.
In its natural state, the Salt Fork drained a vast upland marsh between Urbana and Rantoul. The Salt Fork has been extended into these marshes by drainage ditches. Including the ditches, the Salt Fork is about 70 miles (110 km) long.[2]