The Elkhart River is a 48.3 miles (77.7 km) 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 St. Joseph River

St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan)

The St. Joseph River is a river, approximately long, in southern Michigan and northern Indiana in the United States. It drains a primarily rural farming area in the watershed of Lake Michigan...

 in northern Indiana

Indiana

Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is almost entirely contained in Elkhart County

Elkhart County, Indiana

Elkhart County is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana. Much of the county is in the Elkhart-Goshen Metropolitan Statistical Area, which in turn is part of the South Bend-Elkhart-Mishawaka Combined Statistical Area...

. It begins southeast of Millersburg

Millersburg, Indiana

Millersburg is a town in Clinton and Benton townships, Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. The population was 903 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Millersburg is located at ....

 just across the county line in Noble County

Noble County, Indiana

As of the census of 2000, there were 46,275 people, 16,696 households, and 12,288 families residing in the county. The population density was 113 people per square mile . There were 18,233 housing units at an average density of 44 per square mile...

. It flows generally westward through Benton and then turns northward. It then flows through Bainter Town and Waterford Mills into the Goshen Dam Pond. From there it flows northeast through Goshen

Goshen, Indiana

Goshen is a city in and the county seat of Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. It is the smaller of the two principal cities of the Elkhart-Goshen Metropolitan Statistical Area, which in turn is part of the South Bend-Elkhart-Mishawaka Combined Statistical Area. It is located in the northern...

, Dunlap

Dunlap, Indiana

Dunlap is a census-designated place in Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. The population was 6,235 at the 2010 census. Once a small farming community, by the 1980s it had become a suburb of Elkhart and Goshen, Indiana. Most of the town was destroyed by two violent F4 tornadoes during the Palm...

 and Elkhart

Elkhart, Indiana

Elkhart is a city in Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. The city is located east of South Bend, northwest of Fort Wayne, east of Chicago, and north of Indianapolis...

. It flows into the St. Joseph River at Island Park just north of downtown Elkhart.