The Barren Fork River rises in western Warren County, Tennessee. It is formed from the confluence of its north and south prongs, which join near the tiny community of Trousdale. Its component streams and their tributaries drain much of the eastern portions of Cannon County and Coffee County. The stream flows generally from west to east until it reaches the town of McMinnville, county seat of Warren County. From there it turns in a more northeasterly direction. From this point it is less than five linear miles (eight km) to the mouth of the Barren Fork into the Collins River, but considerably longer by the meandering course taken by the stream in its lower reaches. Near downtown McMinnville is a dam formerly utilized by the city as an electric power source; it was supplanted by the Tennessee Valley Authority system, as the small amount (by modern standards) of electricity it was capable of producing makes it impracticable to man and maintain by modern standards.