American River
The North Fork is the longest tributary of the American River, at . It begins at an elevation of about near Lake Tahoe in Placer County at Mountain Meadow Lake, just northeast of Granite Chief and immediately due west of Squaw Valley Ski Resort. It flows westward through remote wilderness areas.
South Fork Kings River
The South Fork is the largest headwater of the Kings River. It originates at an elevation of at an unnamed lake in Kings Canyon National Park, south of Mather Pass and west of Split Mountain, in a high alpine basin known as Upper Basin. It flows south, and is paralleled for several miles by the combined Pacific Crest Trail/John Muir Trail. The trail and river separate at a point west of Taboose Pass, where the river turns to the southwest through a deep gorge between Cirque Crest to the northwest and Arrow Ridge to the southeast. To the east, the Muro Blanco cliffs rise more than half a mile (0.8 km) above the river.