page_title: Tensas River
hierarchical_section_title: Tensas River
caption_attribution_description: Map of the Tensas River highlighted within the Ouachita River watershed. The darker yellow indicates the Tensas River watershed.
context_page_description: The Tensas River is a river in Louisiana in the United States. The river, known as Tensas Bayou in its upper reaches, begins in East Carroll Parish in the northeast corner of the state and runs roughly southwest for 177 miles more or less in parallel with the Mississippi River. The Tensas River merges with the Ouachita River in Jonesville in Catahoula Parish to become the Black River, not to be confused with Black Lake in Natchitoches Parish in north central Louisiana.
  For the twenty miles south of Interstate 20 between Delhi and Tallulah, the river winds its way through the Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge, which was established in 1980 "for the preservation and development of environmental resources" about the river.
  The name Tensas is derived from the historic indigenous Taensa people.
context_section_description: The Tensas River /ˈtɛnsɔː/ is a river in Louisiana in the United States. The river, known as Tensas Bayou in its upper reaches, begins in East Carroll Parish in the northeast corner of the state and runs roughly southwest for 177 miles (285 km) more or less in parallel with the Mississippi River. The Tensas River merges with the Ouachita River in Jonesville in Catahoula Parish to become the Black River, not to be confused with Black Lake in Natchitoches Parish in north central Louisiana.
  For the twenty miles south of Interstate 20 between Delhi and Tallulah, the river winds its way through the Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge (in Madison, Franklin, and Tensas parishes), which was established in 1980 "for the preservation and development of environmental resources" about the river.
  The name Tensas is derived from the historic indigenous Taensa people.
caption: Location of the Tensas River within the Tensas/Ouachita watershed.
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