The Chickahominy River is an 87-mile coastal plain tributary to the James River in eastern Virginia. Named after the Chickahominy Indian tribe who originally lived along its shores, the river rises about 15 miles northwest of Richmond and flows southeast before joining the James. The river features broad expanses of open marshes and cypress trees along much of its shoreline. In its upper reaches, it's relatively narrow and easily crossed during dry weather, but after rain, it expands across a floodplain with swamps and lowlands. About 4 miles southeast of Providence Forge, it becomes an estuary and turns southward. Today, the lower Chickahominy serves as a major drinking water source for the lower Virginia Peninsula and has become a popular recreational area for boating and sport fishing, featuring Walker's Dam and Chickahominy Lake.