diff --git a/R/downloading_tools.R b/R/downloading_tools.R
index 4e005c78..3018dff3 100644
--- a/R/downloading_tools.R
+++ b/R/downloading_tools.R
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 #' @param download_files boolean if FALSE, only URLs to files will be returned
 #' can be hu02s and/or hu04s
 #'
-#' @return Paths to geodatabases created.
+#' @return character Paths to geodatabases created.
 #' @importFrom xml2 read_xml xml_ns_strip xml_find_all xml_text
 #' @importFrom utils download.file
 #' @importFrom zip unzip
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ download_nhdplushr <- function(nhd_dir, hu_list, download_files = TRUE) {
 #' @param outdir The folder path where data should be downloaded and extracted
 #' @param url the location of the online resource
 #' @param progress boolean display download progress?
-#' @return the path to the local geodatabase
+#' @return character path to the local geodatabase
 #' @export
 #' @examples
 #' \dontrun{
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ download_nhdplusv2 <- function(outdir,
 #' https://prd-tnm.s3.amazonaws.com/StagedProducts/Hydrography/WBD/National/GDB/WBD_National_GDB.xml
 #' for metadata.
 #' @inheritParams download_nhdplusv2
-#' @return the path to the local geodatabase
+#' @return character path to the local geodatabase
 #' @export
 #' @importFrom zip unzip
 #' @examples
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ download_wbd <- function(outdir,
 #' @description This function downloads and decompresses staged RF1 data.
 #' See: https://water.usgs.gov/GIS/metadata/usgswrd/XML/erf1_2.xml for metadata.
 #' @inheritParams download_nhdplusv2
-#' @return the path to the local e00 file
+#' @return character path to the local e00 file
 #' @export
 #' @examples
 #' \dontrun{
diff --git a/R/get_geometry.R b/R/get_geometry.R
index 623eb6fd..359b14f4 100644
--- a/R/get_geometry.R
+++ b/R/get_geometry.R
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 #' @param x sf data.frame with one or more flowlines
 #' @param position character either "start" or "end"
 #' @export
+#' @return sf data.frame containing requested nodes
 #' @importFrom sf st_crs st_coordinates st_as_sf
 #' @importFrom dplyr select group_by filter row_number n ungroup
 #' @examples
diff --git a/R/get_hydro.R b/R/get_hydro.R
index 4d9fa284..6384f01d 100644
--- a/R/get_hydro.R
+++ b/R/get_hydro.R
@@ -1,10 +1,9 @@
 #' @title Find WBD HUC 08 unit subsets
 #' @description Subsets the WBD level 08 features by location (POINT),
 #' area (POLYGON), or set of IDs.
-#' @inherit query_usgs_geoserver details
+#' @inherit query_usgs_geoserver details return
 #' @inheritParams query_usgs_geoserver
 #' @param id WBD HUC08 ID(s)
-#' @inherit query_usgs_geoserver return
 #' @export
 
 get_huc8 <- function(AOI = NULL, id = NULL, t_srs = NULL, buffer = .5){
@@ -15,10 +14,9 @@ get_huc8 <- function(AOI = NULL, id = NULL, t_srs = NULL, buffer = .5){
 #' @title Find WBD HUC 12 unit subsets
 #' @description Subsets the WBD level 12 features by location (POINT),
 #' area (POLYGON), or set of IDs.
-#' @inherit query_usgs_geoserver details
+#' @inherit query_usgs_geoserver details return
 #' @inheritParams query_usgs_geoserver
 #' @param id WBD HUC12 ID(s)
-#' @inherit query_usgs_geoserver return
 #' @export
 
 get_huc12 <- function(AOI = NULL, id = NULL, t_srs = NULL, buffer = .5){
@@ -29,10 +27,9 @@ get_huc12 <- function(AOI = NULL, id = NULL, t_srs = NULL, buffer = .5){
 #' @title Find NHD Water Bodies
 #' @description Subsets NHD waterbody features by location (POINT),
 #' area (POLYGON), or set of IDs.
-#' @inherit query_usgs_geoserver details
+#' @inherit query_usgs_geoserver details return
 #' @inheritParams query_usgs_geoserver
 #' @param id NHD Waterbody COMID(s)
-#' @inherit query_usgs_geoserver return
 #' @export
 
 get_waterbodies <- function(AOI = NULL, id = NULL, t_srs = NULL, buffer = .5){
@@ -45,10 +42,9 @@ get_waterbodies <- function(AOI = NULL, id = NULL, t_srs = NULL, buffer = .5){
 #' @title Find NHD Areas
 #' @description Subsets NHD Area features by location (POINT),
 #' area (POLYGON), or set of IDs.
-#' @inherit query_usgs_geoserver details
+#' @inherit query_usgs_geoserver details return
 #' @inheritParams query_usgs_geoserver
 #' @param id NHD Area COMID(s)
-#' @inherit query_usgs_geoserver return
 #' @export
 
 get_nhdarea <- function(AOI = NULL, id = NULL, t_srs = NULL, buffer = .5){
@@ -60,10 +56,9 @@ get_nhdarea <- function(AOI = NULL, id = NULL, t_srs = NULL, buffer = .5){
 #' @title Find GAGESII Features
 #' @description Subsets the gagesII dataset by location (POINT),
 #' area (POLYGON), or set of IDs.
-#' @inherit query_usgs_geoserver details
+#' @inherit query_usgs_geoserver details return
 #' @inheritParams query_usgs_geoserver
 #' @param id NWIS Gage ID(s)
-#' @inherit query_usgs_geoserver return
 #' @export
 
 get_gagesII <- function(AOI = NULL, id = NULL, t_srs = NULL, buffer = .5){
@@ -75,12 +70,11 @@ get_gagesII <- function(AOI = NULL, id = NULL, t_srs = NULL, buffer = .5){
 #' @description Returns a POINT feature class of active, stream network,
 #' NWIS gages for an Area of Interest. If a POINT feature is used as an AOI,
 #' then the returned sites within the requested buffer, are sorted by distance (in meters) from that POINT.
-#' @inherit query_usgs_geoserver details
+#' @inherit query_usgs_geoserver details return
 #' @inheritParams query_usgs_geoserver
 #' @param buffer numeric. The amount (in meters) to buffer a POINT AOI by
 #' for an extended search. Default = 20,000. Returned results are arrange
 #' by distance from POINT AOI
-#' @inherit query_usgs_geoserver return
 #' @importFrom xml2 xml_root xml_children xml_attr read_xml
 #' @importFrom sf st_geometry_type st_transform st_buffer st_as_sf
 #' st_bbox st_nearest_feature st_distance
diff --git a/R/get_nhdplus.R b/R/get_nhdplus.R
index 1e24f882..72d29ced 100644
--- a/R/get_nhdplus.R
+++ b/R/get_nhdplus.R
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 #' @param realization character. What realization to return.
 #' Default is flowline and options include: outlet, flowline, catchment,
 #' and all
-#' @return a single, or list, of simple feature objects
+#' @return sfc a single, or list, of simple feature objects
 #' @examples
 #' \donttest{
 #'  point <- sf::st_sfc(sf::st_point(c(-119.845, 34.4146)), crs = 4326)
diff --git a/R/get_nhdplushr.R b/R/get_nhdplushr.R
index 773f2ab3..2c824b42 100644
--- a/R/get_nhdplushr.R
+++ b/R/get_nhdplushr.R
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 #' all will be kept.
 #' @param ... parameters passed along to \link{get_hr_data}
 #' for "NHDFlowline" layers.
-#' @return Response is a list of sf data.frames containing output that may also be written
+#' @return sf data.frames containing output that may also be written
 #' to a geopackage for later use.
 #' @details
 #' NHDFlowline is joined to value added attributes prior to being
@@ -115,6 +115,7 @@ get_nhdplushr <- function(hr_dir, out_gpkg = NULL,
 #' @param rename boolean if TRUE, nhdplusTools standard attribute values will
 #' be applied.
 #' @export
+#' @return sf data.frame containing requested data
 #' @importFrom sf st_transform st_simplify st_crs st_drop_geometry st_geometry
 #' @importFrom sf st_cast st_multilinestring st_zm st_geometry<-
 #' @importFrom dplyr select group_by filter ungroup distinct
@@ -187,6 +188,7 @@ cull_cols <- function(x, keep_cols) {
 #' @param flowlines sf data.frame of NHDPlusHR flowlines.
 #' @importFrom sf st_zm write_sf st_drop_geometry
 #' @importFrom dplyr group_by filter select
+#' @return sf data.frame containing standalone network
 #' @export
 #' @examples
 #' \donttest{
diff --git a/R/get_nldi.R b/R/get_nldi.R
index f495970f..a470e6ac 100644
--- a/R/get_nldi.R
+++ b/R/get_nldi.R
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 #' @description Provides access to metadata for characteristics that are returned by `get_nldi_characteristics()`.
 #' @param type character "all", "local", "total", or "divergence_routed".
 #' @export
+#' @return data.frame containing available characteristics
 #' @examples
 #' chars <- discover_nldi_characteristics()
 #' names(chars)
@@ -143,7 +144,7 @@ get_nldi_basin <- function(nldi_feature) {
 #' @title Get NLDI Feature
 #' @description Get a single feature from the NLDI
 #' @inheritParams navigate_nldi
-#' @return sf feature collection with one feature
+#' @return sf data.frame with one feature
 #' @examples
 #' \donttest{
 #' get_nldi_feature(list("featureSource" = "nwissite", featureID = "USGS-05428500"))
@@ -160,6 +161,7 @@ get_nldi_feature <- function(nldi_feature) {
 #' Metadata for these characteristics can be found using `discover_nldi_characteristics()`.
 #' @inheritParams navigate_nldi
 #' @inheritParams discover_nldi_characteristics
+#' @return data.frame contianing requested characteristics
 #' @export
 #' @examples
 #' chars <- get_nldi_characteristics(list(featureSource = "nwissite", featureID = "USGS-05429700"))
diff --git a/R/get_paths.R b/R/get_paths.R
index 4e036128..2cf41e33 100644
--- a/R/get_paths.R
+++ b/R/get_paths.R
@@ -301,6 +301,7 @@ get_sorted <- function(x) {
 #' @param x two column data.frame with IDs and toIDs. Names are ignored.
 #' @param outlets IDs of outlet flowlines
 #' @export
+#' @return data.frame containing the terminal ID for each outlet
 #' @importFrom igraph dfs graph_from_data_frame V
 #' @importFrom sf st_drop_geometry
 #' @importFrom tidyr unnest
@@ -351,6 +352,7 @@ get_terminal <- function(x, outlets) {
 #' @importFrom dplyr arrange
 #' @importFrom methods as
 #' @export
+#' @return data.frame containing levelpaths for each ID
 #' @examples
 #' source(system.file("extdata", "walker_data.R", package = "nhdplusTools"))
 #'
diff --git a/R/get_vaa.R b/R/get_vaa.R
index 36653e9e..6fccbd4a 100644
--- a/R/get_vaa.R
+++ b/R/get_vaa.R
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 #' file path to the cached file. Will use the user data dir indicated
 #' by \link{nhdplusTools_data_dir}.
 #' @inherit download_vaa details
-#' @return file.path character
+#' @return character file path
 #' @export
 #' @examples
 #' get_vaa_path()
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ check_vaa_path <- function(path = get_vaa_path(), download = TRUE) {
 #' \href{https://www.hydroshare.org/resource/6092c8a62fac45be97a09bfd0b0bf726/}{here}
 #' @inheritParams  get_vaa
 #' @param force logical. Force data re-download. Default = FALSE
-#' @return path to cached data
+#' @return character path to cached data
 #' @export
 #' @importFrom httr GET progress write_disk
 
diff --git a/R/index_nhdplus.R b/R/index_nhdplus.R
index c8765099..5872ce40 100644
--- a/R/index_nhdplus.R
+++ b/R/index_nhdplus.R
@@ -62,6 +62,8 @@ matcher <- function(coords, points, search_radius, max_matches = 1) {
 #' Note 4: See `dfMaxLength` input to sf::st_segmentize() for details of
 #' handling of precision parameter.
 #'
+#' Note 5: "from" is downstream -- 0 is the outlet "to" is upstream -- 100 is the inlet
+#'
 #' @importFrom dplyr filter select mutate right_join left_join
 #' @importFrom dplyr group_by summarise distinct desc lag n arrange
 #' @importFrom RANN nn2
@@ -229,7 +231,7 @@ get_flowline_index <- function(flines, points,
 #' @param hydro_location data.frame with two columns. The first should join to the
 #' id field of the indexes and the second should be the numeric or ascii metric such as drainage
 #' area or GNIS Name.. Names of this data,frame are not used.
-#' @return The indexes data.frame deduplicated according to the minimum difference
+#' @return data.frame indexes deduplicated according to the minimum difference
 #' between the values in the metric columns. If two or more result in the same "minimum"
 #' value, duplicates will be returned.
 #' @export
@@ -517,6 +519,7 @@ add_len <- function(x) {
 #' @param measure numeric reach measure between 0 and 100
 #' @param from numeric flowline from-measure relative to the reach
 #' @param to numeric flowline to-measure relative to the reach
+#' @return numeric rescaled measure
 #' @export
 #' @examples
 #' rescale_measures(40, 0, 50)
diff --git a/R/nhdplusTools.R b/R/nhdplusTools.R
index e9dab0c7..e8174e9c 100644
--- a/R/nhdplusTools.R
+++ b/R/nhdplusTools.R
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ assign("nhdpt_dat_dir",
 #' @description if left unset, will return the user data dir
 #' as returned by \link[tools]{R_user_dir} for this package.
 #' @param dir path of desired data directory
-#' @return path of data directory (silent when setting)
+#' @return character path of data directory (silent when setting)
 #' @importFrom tools R_user_dir
 #' @export
 #' @examples
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ nhdplusTools_data_dir <- function(dir = NULL) {
 #' geodatabase or geopackage format.
 #' @param path character path ending in .gdb or .gpkg
 #' @param warn boolean controls whether warning an status messages are printed
-#' @return 1 if set successfully, the path if no input.
+#' @return 0 (invisibly) if set successfully, character path if no input.
 #' @export
 #' @examples
 #' nhdplus_path("/data/NHDPlusV21_National_Seamless.gdb")
@@ -260,7 +260,7 @@ nhdplus_path <- function(path = NULL, warn = FALSE) {
 #' @title Align NHD Dataset Names
 #' @description this function takes any NHDPlus dataset and aligns the attribute names with those used in nhdplusTools.
 #' @param x a \code{sf} object of nhdplus flowlines
-#' @return a renamed \code{sf} object
+#' @return data.frame renamed \code{sf} object
 #' @export
 #' @examples
 #' source(system.file("extdata/new_hope_data.R", package = "nhdplusTools"))
diff --git a/R/plot_nhdplus.R b/R/plot_nhdplus.R
index 4ee66275..f837a47c 100644
--- a/R/plot_nhdplus.R
+++ b/R/plot_nhdplus.R
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 #' @param actually_plot boolean actually draw the plot? Use to get data subset only.
 #' @param flowline_only boolean only subset and plot flowlines?
 #' @param ... parameters passed on to rosm.
-#' @return plot data is returned invisibly in NAD83 Lat/Lon.
+#' @return data.frame plot data is returned invisibly in NAD83 Lat/Lon.
 #' @details plot_nhdplus supports several input specifications. An unexported function "as_outlet"
 #' is used to convert the outlet formats as described below.
 #' \enumerate{
diff --git a/R/prep_nhdplus.R b/R/prep_nhdplus.R
index cdf99d49..3a64b688 100644
--- a/R/prep_nhdplus.R
+++ b/R/prep_nhdplus.R
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@
 #' @param skip_toCOMID boolean if TRUE, toCOMID will not be added to output.
 #' @return data.frame ready to be used with the refactor_flowlines function.
 #' @importFrom dplyr select filter left_join group_split group_by bind_rows
-#' @family refactor functions
 #' @export
 #' @examples
 #'
diff --git a/R/run_plus_attributes.R b/R/run_plus_attributes.R
index b1b552af..a1f841c3 100644
--- a/R/run_plus_attributes.R
+++ b/R/run_plus_attributes.R
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ combine_networks <- function(lp) {
 #' split into independent sub-networks. If it exists, it will be read from disk
 #' rather than recreated.
 #' @param status logical should progress be printed?
+#' @return data.frame with added attributes
 #' @export
 #' @examples
 #'
diff --git a/R/subset_nhdplus.R b/R/subset_nhdplus.R
index c7693113..adca1b21 100644
--- a/R/subset_nhdplus.R
+++ b/R/subset_nhdplus.R
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
 #' and subject to revision. It does not include as many layers and may not
 #' be available permenently.
 #'
-#' @return path to the saved subset geopackage
+#' @return character path to the saved subset geopackage
 #' @export
 #' @examples
 #' \donttest{
@@ -667,6 +667,7 @@ get_flowline_layer_name <- function(nhdplus_data) {
 #' @param rpu character e.g. "01a"
 #' @param run_make_standalone boolean should the run_make_standalone function be run on result?
 #' @export
+#' @return data.frame containing subset network
 #' @importFrom dplyr filter arrange summarize
 #' @importFrom sf st_sf st_drop_geometry
 #' @examples
diff --git a/man/add_plus_network_attributes.Rd b/man/add_plus_network_attributes.Rd
index 31eac0d7..4b2bc161 100644
--- a/man/add_plus_network_attributes.Rd
+++ b/man/add_plus_network_attributes.Rd
@@ -29,6 +29,9 @@ rather than recreated.}
 
 \item{status}{logical should progress be printed?}
 }
+\value{
+data.frame with added attributes
+}
 \description{
 Given a river network with required base attributes, adds the
 NHDPlus network attributes: hydrosequence, levelpath, terminalpath, pathlength,
diff --git a/man/align_nhdplus_names.Rd b/man/align_nhdplus_names.Rd
index 70875f07..5da98e62 100644
--- a/man/align_nhdplus_names.Rd
+++ b/man/align_nhdplus_names.Rd
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ align_nhdplus_names(x)
 \item{x}{a \code{sf} object of nhdplus flowlines}
 }
 \value{
-a renamed \code{sf} object
+data.frame renamed \code{sf} object
 }
 \description{
 this function takes any NHDPlus dataset and aligns the attribute names with those used in nhdplusTools.
diff --git a/man/disambiguate_flowline_indexes.Rd b/man/disambiguate_flowline_indexes.Rd
index 64e2f8f8..f3ece7d3 100644
--- a/man/disambiguate_flowline_indexes.Rd
+++ b/man/disambiguate_flowline_indexes.Rd
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ id field of the indexes and the second should be the numeric or ascii metric suc
 area or GNIS Name.. Names of this data,frame are not used.}
 }
 \value{
-The indexes data.frame deduplicated according to the minimum difference
+data.frame indexes deduplicated according to the minimum difference
 between the values in the metric columns. If two or more result in the same "minimum"
 value, duplicates will be returned.
 }
diff --git a/man/discover_nldi_characteristics.Rd b/man/discover_nldi_characteristics.Rd
index 5b16b0a2..36361270 100644
--- a/man/discover_nldi_characteristics.Rd
+++ b/man/discover_nldi_characteristics.Rd
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@ discover_nldi_characteristics(type = "all")
 \arguments{
 \item{type}{character "all", "local", "total", or "divergence_routed".}
 }
+\value{
+data.frame containing available characteristics
+}
 \description{
 Provides access to metadata for characteristics that are returned by `get_nldi_characteristics()`.
 }
diff --git a/man/download_nhdplushr.Rd b/man/download_nhdplushr.Rd
index 70cf9041..7e93b340 100644
--- a/man/download_nhdplushr.Rd
+++ b/man/download_nhdplushr.Rd
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ and four digit codes.}
 can be hu02s and/or hu04s}
 }
 \value{
-Paths to geodatabases created.
+character Paths to geodatabases created.
 }
 \description{
 Download NHDPlus HiRes
diff --git a/man/download_nhdplusv2.Rd b/man/download_nhdplusv2.Rd
index 0b91b3b1..06ee0b65 100644
--- a/man/download_nhdplusv2.Rd
+++ b/man/download_nhdplusv2.Rd
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ download_nhdplusv2(
 \item{progress}{boolean display download progress?}
 }
 \value{
-the path to the local geodatabase
+character path to the local geodatabase
 }
 \description{
 This function downloads and decompresses staged seamless NHDPlusV2 data.
diff --git a/man/download_rf1.Rd b/man/download_rf1.Rd
index b98ce538..c07041a9 100644
--- a/man/download_rf1.Rd
+++ b/man/download_rf1.Rd
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ download_rf1(
 \item{progress}{boolean display download progress?}
 }
 \value{
-the path to the local e00 file
+character path to the local e00 file
 }
 \description{
 This function downloads and decompresses staged RF1 data.
diff --git a/man/download_vaa.Rd b/man/download_vaa.Rd
index 55e43f2e..9f3a3d09 100644
--- a/man/download_vaa.Rd
+++ b/man/download_vaa.Rd
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ Also see: \link{get_vaa_path}}
 \item{force}{logical. Force data re-download. Default = FALSE}
 }
 \value{
-path to cached data
+character path to cached data
 }
 \description{
 downloads and caches nhdplusVAA data on your computer
diff --git a/man/download_wbd.Rd b/man/download_wbd.Rd
index c1e44bb9..416514b6 100644
--- a/man/download_wbd.Rd
+++ b/man/download_wbd.Rd
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ download_wbd(
 \item{progress}{boolean display download progress?}
 }
 \value{
-the path to the local geodatabase
+character path to the local geodatabase
 }
 \description{
 This function downloads and decompresses staged seamless WBD data.
diff --git a/man/get_flowline_index.Rd b/man/get_flowline_index.Rd
index 4394406a..d439fb6a 100644
--- a/man/get_flowline_index.Rd
+++ b/man/get_flowline_index.Rd
@@ -52,6 +52,8 @@ the flowlines.
 
 Note 4: See `dfMaxLength` input to sf::st_segmentize() for details of
 handling of precision parameter.
+
+Note 5: "from" is downstream -- 0 is the outlet "to" is upstream -- 100 is the inlet
 }
 \examples{
 \donttest{
diff --git a/man/get_hr_data.Rd b/man/get_hr_data.Rd
index ca67e6b2..fa48141a 100644
--- a/man/get_hr_data.Rd
+++ b/man/get_hr_data.Rd
@@ -27,6 +27,9 @@ get_hr_data(
 \item{rename}{boolean if TRUE, nhdplusTools standard attribute values will
 be applied.}
 }
+\value{
+sf data.frame containing requested data
+}
 \description{
 Use to remove unwanted detail NHDPlusHR data
 See \link{get_nhdplushr} for examples.
diff --git a/man/get_nhdplus.Rd b/man/get_nhdplus.Rd
index dcc0bcbf..8a75839a 100644
--- a/man/get_nhdplus.Rd
+++ b/man/get_nhdplus.Rd
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ A user specified - target -Spatial Reference System (SRS/CRS) for returned objec
 Will default to the CRS of the input AOI if provided, and to 4326 for ID requests.}
 }
 \value{
-a single, or list, of simple feature objects
+sfc a single, or list, of simple feature objects
 }
 \description{
 Subsets NHDPlusV2 features by location (POINT), area (POLYGON),
diff --git a/man/get_nhdplushr.Rd b/man/get_nhdplushr.Rd
index 006b8902..f6fffa14 100644
--- a/man/get_nhdplushr.Rd
+++ b/man/get_nhdplushr.Rd
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ all will be kept.}
 for "NHDFlowline" layers.}
 }
 \value{
-Response is a list of sf data.frames containing output that may also be written
+sf data.frames containing output that may also be written
 to a geopackage for later use.
 }
 \description{
diff --git a/man/get_nldi_characteristics.Rd b/man/get_nldi_characteristics.Rd
index 160810dd..380a6c78 100644
--- a/man/get_nldi_characteristics.Rd
+++ b/man/get_nldi_characteristics.Rd
@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@ from the specified `featureSource`.}
 
 \item{type}{character "all", "local", "total", or "divergence_routed".}
 }
+\value{
+data.frame contianing requested characteristics
+}
 \description{
 Retrieves catchment characteristics from the Network Linked Data Index.
 Metadata for these characteristics can be found using `discover_nldi_characteristics()`.
diff --git a/man/get_nldi_feature.Rd b/man/get_nldi_feature.Rd
index 83ad193a..40528c5f 100644
--- a/man/get_nldi_feature.Rd
+++ b/man/get_nldi_feature.Rd
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ dataRetrieval::get_nldi_sources() and the `featureSource` is a known identifier
 from the specified `featureSource`.}
 }
 \value{
-sf feature collection with one feature
+sf data.frame with one feature
 }
 \description{
 Get a single feature from the NLDI
diff --git a/man/get_node.Rd b/man/get_node.Rd
index ff0cb06c..ae4fcfae 100644
--- a/man/get_node.Rd
+++ b/man/get_node.Rd
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@ get_node(x, position = "end")
 
 \item{position}{character either "start" or "end"}
 }
+\value{
+sf data.frame containing requested nodes
+}
 \description{
 Given one or more flowlines, returns
   a particular node from the flowline.
diff --git a/man/get_pathlength.Rd b/man/get_pathlength.Rd
index b021d73e..9c7e911a 100644
--- a/man/get_pathlength.Rd
+++ b/man/get_pathlength.Rd
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@ get_pathlength(x)
 \arguments{
 \item{x}{data.frame with ID, toID, length columns.}
 }
+\value{
+data.frame containing levelpaths for each ID
+}
 \description{
 Generates the main path length to a basin's
 terminal path.
diff --git a/man/get_terminal.Rd b/man/get_terminal.Rd
index 2bc6359d..62bcd688 100644
--- a/man/get_terminal.Rd
+++ b/man/get_terminal.Rd
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@ get_terminal(x, outlets)
 
 \item{outlets}{IDs of outlet flowlines}
 }
+\value{
+data.frame containing the terminal ID for each outlet
+}
 \description{
 Get the ID of the basin outlet for each flowline.
 }
diff --git a/man/get_vaa_path.Rd b/man/get_vaa_path.Rd
index 055b6990..0f9edc77 100644
--- a/man/get_vaa_path.Rd
+++ b/man/get_vaa_path.Rd
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 get_vaa_path()
 }
 \value{
-file.path character
+character file path
 }
 \description{
 nhdplusTools will download and cache an `fst` file with
diff --git a/man/make_standalone.Rd b/man/make_standalone.Rd
index df8e4b04..300421d2 100644
--- a/man/make_standalone.Rd
+++ b/man/make_standalone.Rd
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@ make_standalone(flowlines)
 \arguments{
 \item{flowlines}{sf data.frame of NHDPlusHR flowlines.}
 }
+\value{
+sf data.frame containing standalone network
+}
 \description{
 Cleans up and prepares NHDPlusHR regional data for use as complete NHDPlus
 data. The primary modification applied is to ensure that any flowpath that exits the
diff --git a/man/nhdplusTools_data_dir.Rd b/man/nhdplusTools_data_dir.Rd
index 88e32b34..7d7cbc01 100644
--- a/man/nhdplusTools_data_dir.Rd
+++ b/man/nhdplusTools_data_dir.Rd
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ nhdplusTools_data_dir(dir = NULL)
 \item{dir}{path of desired data directory}
 }
 \value{
-path of data directory (silent when setting)
+character path of data directory (silent when setting)
 }
 \description{
 if left unset, will return the user data dir
diff --git a/man/nhdplus_path.Rd b/man/nhdplus_path.Rd
index 166eb685..a0a4531a 100644
--- a/man/nhdplus_path.Rd
+++ b/man/nhdplus_path.Rd
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ nhdplus_path(path = NULL, warn = FALSE)
 \item{warn}{boolean controls whether warning an status messages are printed}
 }
 \value{
-1 if set successfully, the path if no input.
+0 (invisibly) if set successfully, character path if no input.
 }
 \description{
 Allows specification of a custom path to a source dataset.
diff --git a/man/plot_nhdplus.Rd b/man/plot_nhdplus.Rd
index ffd1c4f8..dc911b56 100644
--- a/man/plot_nhdplus.Rd
+++ b/man/plot_nhdplus.Rd
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ plot_nhdplus(
 \item{...}{parameters passed on to rosm.}
 }
 \value{
-plot data is returned invisibly in NAD83 Lat/Lon.
+data.frame plot data is returned invisibly in NAD83 Lat/Lon.
 }
 \description{
 Given a list of outlets, get their basin boundaries and network and return a plot in
diff --git a/man/prepare_nhdplus.Rd b/man/prepare_nhdplus.Rd
index 7c903b7b..4f126590 100644
--- a/man/prepare_nhdplus.Rd
+++ b/man/prepare_nhdplus.Rd
@@ -56,4 +56,3 @@ prepare_nhdplus(sample_flines,
                 warn = FALSE)
 
 }
-\concept{refactor functions}
diff --git a/man/rescale_measures.Rd b/man/rescale_measures.Rd
index cf480579..5ee35953 100644
--- a/man/rescale_measures.Rd
+++ b/man/rescale_measures.Rd
@@ -13,6 +13,9 @@ rescale_measures(measure, from, to)
 
 \item{to}{numeric flowline to-measure relative to the reach}
 }
+\value{
+numeric rescaled measure
+}
 \description{
 Given a reachcode measure and the from and to measure for a
 comid flowline, returns the measure along the comid flowline. This is
diff --git a/man/subset_nhdplus.Rd b/man/subset_nhdplus.Rd
index b86543b2..4713884a 100644
--- a/man/subset_nhdplus.Rd
+++ b/man/subset_nhdplus.Rd
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ Not implemented for local data.}
 \item{out_prj}{character override the default output CRS of NAD83 lat/lon (EPSG:4269)}
 }
 \value{
-path to the saved subset geopackage
+character path to the saved subset geopackage
 }
 \description{
 Saves a subset of the National Seamless database or other
diff --git a/man/subset_rpu.Rd b/man/subset_rpu.Rd
index 31df6e40..ff92f732 100644
--- a/man/subset_rpu.Rd
+++ b/man/subset_rpu.Rd
@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@ LevelPathI, RPUID, ToNode, FromNode, and ArbolateSu.}
 
 \item{run_make_standalone}{boolean should the run_make_standalone function be run on result?}
 }
+\value{
+data.frame containing subset network
+}
 \description{
 Given flowlines and an rpu_code, performs a network-safe subset such
 that the result can be used in downstream processing. Has been tested to work
diff --git a/vignettes/nhdplusTools.Rmd b/vignettes/nhdplusTools.Rmd
index ea77d44b..694dbe95 100644
--- a/vignettes/nhdplusTools.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/nhdplusTools.Rmd
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ library(nhdplusTools)
 
 ## Data and Package Basics
 
-The first thing you are going to need to do is go get some data to work with. `nhdplusTools` provides the ability to download small subsets of the NHDPlus as described in the [Discovery and Subsetting](#discovery_subsetting) section. For large subsets, greater than a few thousand square kilometers, you can download the [National Seamless database at this web page.](https://www.epa.gov/waterdata/nhdplus-national-data) You will need [7z](https://www.7-zip.org/) or the [`archive` package](https://github.com/jimhester/archive) to extract it. 
+The first thing you are going to need to do is go get some data to work with. `nhdplusTools` provides the ability to download small subsets of the NHDPlus as described in the [Discovery and Subsetting](#discovery_subsetting) section. For large subsets, greater than a few thousand square kilometers, you can download the [National Seamless database at this web page.](https://www.epa.gov/waterdata/nhdplus-national-data) You will need [7z](https://www.7-zip.org/) or the [`archive` package](https://github.com/r-lib/archive) to extract it. 
 
 If you are working with the whole National Seamless database, `nhdplusTools` has some convenience functions you should be aware of. Once you have it downloaded and extracted, you can tell the nhdplusTools package where it is with the `nhdplus_path()` function.