[1] Official Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) highway signs call the stream Baron Fork.

Ed Fite, administrator of the Oklahoma Scenic Rivers Commission, is quoted as saying that Barren Fork is more accurate historically.

Fite says that when explorers came up the Illinois River, they found the creek had no water and named it Barren Fork.

It empties into the main branch of the Illinois River near the community of Welling, Oklahoma, just upstream of Lake Tenkiller.

[5][6] The stream drains an area of 1,660 square miles (4,300 km2) in the two states and is said to be the largest contributor to Oklahoma's Lake Tenkiller.