Knowing the flow direction of the river Sidon would be helpful in identifying and verifying its location on the earth’s surface. Unfortunately, there are no direct statements on the general flow of the river Sidon in the Book of Mormon. Therefore, we are left with the alternative of using logic and the triangulation of information from several scriptural references to determine its orientation. We would prefer the directional flow of the river Sidon were clearly stated in the Book of Mormon, but thankfully the record contains numerous clues, and the results of logical procedures can provide plausible pointers to the river’s course. Merely placing the desired directional flow of a river on a theoretical map, however, is not evidence the river could follow a downward path along its entire course on the actual surface of the earth. And simply selecting a river in an area where one wishes it to be is not evidence the river flows past the required checkpoints indicated by the Book of Mormon account, such as actual hills and valleys. Rivers flow where they have to, not where we wish them to. Some rivers flow in several directions before emptying into the sea.

Based on our analysis of the complete Book of Mormon record, we propose the general flow of the river Sidon was in a southwest direction, emptying into the sea west, and it’s source was in the center of the land of Zarahemla between the sea west and sea east. As a reader would expect, the course of the Rio San Ignacio in Baja California matches this drainage pattern, with a general flow in a southwest direction to the Pacific Ocean. To this point in our analysis, we have provided several sets of references from the Book of Mormon text implying the river Sidon flows in a general westward direction. We now consider evidence from five additional scripture reference sets.

• Physical features determine direction of flow
• The head (source) of the river Sidon is on the north of the land of Manti and east of the city of Zarahemla
• The south wilderness forces the river Sidon to flow southwest
• Casting the dead (downstream) into the waters of Sidon
• Rivers in Mediterranean climate areas flow westward

Summary—These five reasoned explanations from the Book of Mormon text strongly support a general westward, and specifically a southwest flow direction for the river Sidon. We know of no evidence in the Book of Mormon that sustains another flow direction.