The Green River is a 21.1 miles (34 km) tributary of the Buffalo River

Buffalo River (Tennessee)

The Buffalo River is the longest unimpounded river in Middle Tennessee in the United States, flowing through the southern and western portions of that region. It is the largest tributary of the Duck River and is used for canoeing, especially in its middle section...

 in Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

. By the Buffalo River and the Duck River

Duck River (Tennessee)

The Duck River, long, is the longest river located entirely within the U.S. state of Tennessee. Free flowing for most of its length, the Duck River is home to over 50 species of freshwater mussels and 151 species of fish, making it one of the most biologically diverse rivers in North America.The...

 it is a tributary of the Tennessee River

Tennessee River

The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately 652 miles long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names...

. The Green River is one of the main 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...

s of Wayne County

Wayne County, Tennessee

As of the census of 2010, there were 17,021 people, 5,822 households, and 4,321 families residing in the county. The population density was 23 people per square mile . There were 6,701 housing units at an average density of 9 per square mile...

. Situated in the southwestern corner of Middle Tennessee

Middle Tennessee

Middle Tennessee is a distinct portion of the state of Tennessee, delineated according to state law as the 41 counties in the Middle Grand Division of Tennessee....

 along the Alabama

Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

 line, Wayne County is one of the state's largest counties in area but is very sparsely populated. Most of the county is located on the Southern Highland Rim

Highland Rim

The Highland Rim is a geographic term for the area in Tennessee surrounding the Central Basin. Nashville is largely surrounded by higher terrain in all directions....

, an area of hills, ridges, and narrow stream valleys that is largely underlain by Paleozoic

Paleozoic

The Paleozoic era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic eon, spanning from roughly...

 limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

.

The Green River rises about 7 miles (11 km) southeast of the Wayne County seat of Waynesboro

Waynesboro, Tennessee

Waynesboro is a city in and the county seat of Wayne County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 2,449 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Waynesboro is located at ....

 and flows northwest into that town, which is almost bisected by it, and then flows generally almost due north, albeit by a fairly meander

Meander

A meander in general is a bend in a sinuous watercourse. A meander is formed when the moving water in a stream erodes the outer banks and widens its valley. A stream of any volume may assume a meandering course, alternately eroding sediments from the outside of a bend and depositing them on the...

ing course, to its confluence with the Buffalo River just south of the Wayne County - Perry County line. It is the source of the Waynesboro municipal water supply. The river lives up to its name, often showing a deep bluish-green color, especially in its downstream reaches.

This Green River should not be confused with the Green River

Green River (Kentucky)

The Green River is a tributary of the Ohio River that rises in Lincoln County in south-central Kentucky. Tributaries of the Green River include the Barren River, the Nolin River, the Pond River and the Rough River...

 in Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

, which is a tributary of the Ohio River

Ohio River

The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...

and has a very small portion of its drainage basin in north-central Tennessee.