Cherry Run is a 7.2 miles (11.6 km) meandering stream

Stream

A stream is a body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, "crick", gill , kill, lick, rill, river, syke, bayou, rivulet, streamage, wash, run or...

 that forms the northern section of the boundary between Morgan

Morgan County, West Virginia

Morgan County is a county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of 2010, it's population was 17,541. Its county seat is Berkeley Springs. The county is one of three in Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area...

 and Berkeley

Berkeley County, West Virginia

Berkeley County is a county located in the Eastern Panhandle region of the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of 2010, the population is 104,169, making it the second-most populous county in West Virginia, behind Kanawha...

 counties in West Virginia

West Virginia

West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

's Eastern Panhandle. While it is mostly non-navigable, Cherry Run provides many pool

Stream pool

A stream pool, in hydrology, is a stretch of a river or stream in which the water depth is above average and the water velocity is quite below average.-Formation:...

s of varying depths for fishing

Fishing

Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....

 and swimming. As a tributary

Tributary

A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...

 of the Potomac River

Potomac River

The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...

, Cherry Run is part of the Potomac and Chesapeake Bay

Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...

 watershed

Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

s.

Headwaters and course

Cherry Run is formed by mountain springs

Spring (hydrosphere)

A spring—also known as a rising or resurgence—is a component of the hydrosphere. Specifically, it is any natural situation where water flows to the surface of the earth from underground...

 on the northern flanks of Third Hill Mountain

Third Hill Mountain

Third Hill Mountain is located in Berkeley County, West Virginia in the Eastern Panhandle. Third Hill Mountain reaches its highest elevation of 2,172 feet above sea-level southeast of the "Locks-of-the-Mountain" where it "locks" with Sleepy Creek Mountain.-Adjacent area:Together with Sleepy Creek...

 (2,172 feet) south of Paines Knob (1,352 feet). From its source, it acts as a natural boundary between Morgan and Berkeley Counties. Cherry Run flows southeast through the Sleepy Creek Wildlife Management Area

Sleepy Creek Wildlife Management Area

Sleepy Creek Wildlife Management Area, is located near Berkeley Springs, West Virginia in Morgan County and near Martinsburg, West Virginia in Berkeley County. Sleepy Creek WMA is located on , mostly covered with mixed oak and pine forest, although about are covered with mixed hardwoods...

 via a gap in Short Mountain (1,375 feet). Its direction shifts northeastward following along the eastern flanks of Short Mountain. Through Sleepy Hollow, Cherry Run is dammed to create Sleepy Hollow Lake. Further north, it is joined by three unnamed spring-fed streams. Cherry Run shifts eastward away from Short Mountain, running under West Virginia Route 9 and by the community of Holton

Holton, West Virginia

Holton is a small unincorporated community in northeastern Morgan County in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Holton lies on Martinsburg Road at its junction with Cherry Run Road along Cherry Run and the Berkeley County line. Holton had its own post office in operation between 1889 and 1903....

. From Holton, the stream curves northeast running parallel to the east of Sleepy Creek Road (CR 5). Cherry Run meanders eastward to the south of its namesake, the town of Cherry Run

Cherry Run, West Virginia

Cherry Run is a small unincorporated hamlet located along the CSX Transportation mainline on the Potomac River in Morgan County in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The community is named for the stream, Cherry Run, that meets the Potomac in its vicinity...

. After flowing under the bridges of Camp Hill Road and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. It came into being mostly because the city of Baltimore wanted to compete with the newly constructed Erie Canal and another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, which...

, Cherry Run empties into the Potomac River directly across from the community of Big Pool

Big Pool, Maryland

Big Pool is an unincorporated community in western Washington County, Maryland, United States. It is between Clear Spring, Maryland and Hancock, Maryland along U.S. Route 40 and is officially a part of the Hagerstown Metropolitan Area....

, Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

.

Stream access

The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources

West Virginia Division of Natural Resources

The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources is an agency of the government of the U.S. state of West Virginia. While formerly known as the cabinet-level Department of Natural Resources, it is now part of the West Virginia Department of Commerce...

owns a public access site with several concrete ramps for small boats at the mouth of Cherry Run for fishing.