Nanticoke River

The Nanticoke River is a major tributary of the Chesapeake Bay on the Delmarva Peninsula. It rises in southern Kent County, Delaware, flows through Sussex County, Delaware, and forms the boundary between Dorchester County, Maryland and Wicomico County, Maryland. The river course proceeds southwest and it empties into the Chesapeake at Nanticoke, Maryland. The river is 64.3 miles (103.5 km) long. A 26-mile ecotourism water trail running along the River was set aside in July 2011 by Delaware state and federal officials, contiguous with a 37-mile water-trail extending through Maryland to the Chesapeake Bay.

Its main tributaries are Marshyhope Creek on the north side and Gravelly Fork and Broad Creek on the south side. Notable communities situated along the river include the towns of Nanticoke, Bivalve, Vienna, and Sharptown in Maryland; and the city of Seaford, Delaware.

According to a study paid for by the town of Vienna, the English explorer John Smith travelled up the Nanticoke River and mapped it, and visited with Native Americans in their settlement, now believed to be Vienna.

The river was dredged in 1990 to facilitating shipping travel along the course. As of 2012, a project to once again dredge the channel is on hold for financial reasons.