View source for Course of the Klamath River

The '''[[Klamath River]]''' is a river in southern [[Oregon]] and northern [[California]] in the [[United States]]. This article describes its '''course'''.
==Oregon==
[[Image:Klamath Falls6.jpg|thumb|right|[[Mount Shasta]] rises above the Klamath River's watershed.]]
The Klamath River's [[drainage basin]] above [[Upper Klamath Lake]] is fed primarily by the [[Williamson River (Oregon)|Williamson River]] and the [[Sprague River (Oregon)|Sprague River]], which stretch into south-central Oregon east of the Cascades.
The official beginning of the {{convert|263|mi|km|adj=on}} long river is at the outlet of Upper Klamath Lake, a large and artificially expanded lake east of the Cascade Range. Above Upper Klamath Lake, several streams drain south and southeast from the Cascades to form [[Agency Lake]], which is connected to Upper Klamath Lake. After flowing out of the [[Bureau of Reclamation]]-built dam, the river flows into a {{convert|1|mi|km|adj=on}} stretch known as the [[Link River]], past the city of [[Klamath Falls, Oregon|Klamath Falls]] and into [[Lake Ewauna]], a {{convert|20|mi|km|adj=on}}-long reservoir. The [[Lost River (Oregon)|Lost River]] enters from the left via a series of agricultural ditches and canals (formerly, all of its water emptied into Tule Lake). It crosses under [[Oregon State Route 97]] twice, once upstream of and once downstream of [[Oregon Route 140]], and continues west through an agricultural valley to [[Keno, Oregon|Keno]]. At Keno the river veers sharply south and passes through the [[Keno Dam]], which forms Lake Ewauna, {{convert|240|mi|km}} from the mouth,<ref name=overview>{{cite web|title=Klamath River Basin Issues and Activities: An Overview |publisher=California Department of Energy |url=http://www.energy.ca.gov/klamath/documents/CRS_REPORT_RL33098.PDF |accessdate=2008-06-29 |url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523091253/http://www.energy.ca.gov/klamath/documents/CRS_REPORT_RL33098.PDF |archivedate=2013-05-23 }}</ref>
passing the now-drained [[Lower Klamath Lake]].<ref name=dams>{{cite web|url=http://www.yuroktribe.org/departments/fisheries/documents/GECFinalReport.pdf|title=Klamath River Dam and Sediment Investigation|publisher=www.yuroktribe.org|work=Yurok Tribe of California|date=November 2006|accessdate=2009-08-21}}</ref><ref name=watershedmap>BEST and WSTB, p.27</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Ground-Water Hydrology of the Upper Klamath Basin, Oregon and California | work = Scientific Investigations Report 2007–5050 | publisher = U.S. Geological Survey | url = http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2007/5050/section2.html | accessdate = 2008-06-29}}</ref>
The Klamath enters a narrow gorge and runs northeast, then enters the J.C. Boyle Reservoir, formed by the [[John C. Boyle Dam]], and passes through the gates of the dam {{convert|231|mi|km}} from the mouth. After flowing out of the rockfill structure, the river heads south and plunges rapidly into a narrow and deep gorge about {{convert|800|ft|m}} deep and {{convert|2300|ft|m}} wide. After flowing a few miles through this narrow gorge, it widens into a rugged valley and turns west-southwest, crossing the Oregon-[[California]] border. [[Butte Creek (Butte County, California)|Butte Creek]] comes in from the south. After crossing the border, the river turns sharply south, diverges around a small island, and receives Edge Creek from the right. The river then flows into [[Copco Lake]], formed by the [[Copco Dam]]. Exiting the dam {{convert|200|mi|km}} from the mouth, the river bends sharply north then south around a ridge and receives Fall Creek from the right as it passes the town of [[Copco, California|Copco]].<ref name=dams/><ref name=watershedmap/> There are proposals to remove all four dams by 2020.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americanrivers.org/our-work/restoring-rivers/dams/projects/restoring-klamath-river.html|title=Klamath River, Oregon and California|publisher=American Rivers|date=|accessdate=2009-08-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100327100504/http://www.americanrivers.org/our-work/restoring-rivers/dams/projects/restoring-klamath-river.html|archive-date=2010-03-27|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{needs update|date=October 2024}}
==Far northern California==
The river then enters [[Iron Gate Reservoir]], {{convert|196.8|mi|km}} from the mouth.<ref name=irongate>{{cite web|url=http://www.pacificorp.com/File/File16143.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030824003811/http://www.pacificorp.com/File/File16143.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2003-08-24 |title=Iron Gate Reservoir: Reservoir Location and Characteristics |publisher=www.pacificorp.com |work=PacifiCorp Klamath Hydroelectric Project |date= |accessdate=2009-08-21 }}</ref> The river receives [[Jenny Creek]], a much larger tributary, which is formed by streams draining out of [[Howard Prairie Lake]] nearly {{convert|20|mi|km}} to the north. The reservoir bends south and the Klamath flows away through [[Iron Gate Dam (California)|Iron Gate Dam]], {{convert|190|mi|km}} from the mouth. The river then swings west and passes through an arid valley used for farming and ranching. Near [[Hornbrook, California|Hornbrook]] the river receives Hutton Creek from the right and turns sharply south as it meets [[Interstate 5]].The river then veers west again as it receives the [[Shasta River]], which flows north from the [[Mount Shasta]] area, from the left. [[California State Route 96]] drops into the canyon and begins to parallel the river, some {{convert|180|mi|km}} from the mouth.<ref name=dams/><ref name=watershedmap/>
[[Image:Lower Klamath Lake.jpg|thumb|left|[[Lower Klamath Lake]] seen today under heavy fog]]
Flowing through its narrow canyon, the river receives Beaver Creek from the right, {{convert|170|mi|km}} from the mouth, as it passes the small hamlet of [[Klamath River, California|Klamath River]] from the south. It then turns west, and with the massive bulk of [[Dry Lake Mountain]] looming to the north, the river receives Horse Creek from the right after passing [[Horse Creek, California|the town of the same name]]. It then turns south and then west, whipsawing through an increasingly narrow gorge, and receives the [[Scott River]] from the left and passes [[Hamburg, California|Hamburg]], {{convert|150|mi|km}} from the mouth. The river then passes [[Seiad Valley, California|Seiad Valley]] and receives Seiad Creek from the right and Grider Creek from the left, {{convert|141|mi|km}} from the mouth. The river then enters another narrower gorge and passes [[Fort Goff, California|Fort Goff]] before dropping over a series of rapids.<ref name=dams/><ref name=watershedmap/>
The river rounds a bend southward, then twists sharply northward, southwest and southeast around a ridge as it receives China Creek from the left, {{convert|135|mi|km}} from the mouth. The river then again bends southwest, then curves northward, diverges around two islands, then swings east and finally southwest around another ridge as it enters a wider valley and passes the town of [[Happy Camp, California|Happy Camp]], {{convert|130|mi|km}} from the mouth. Receiving wide, shallow Indian Creek from the right, the Klamath then bends southwest into a narrow gorge, still paralleling State Route 96. The river passes Clear Creek {{convert|85|mi|km}} from the mouth and receives the creek of the same name as it begins to flow south-southeast; a little farther on, it receives Independence Creek from the left, then bends west as it receives King Creek from the left.<ref name=dams/><ref name=watershedmap/>
Now incised into a narrow channel and meandering around sandbars and gravel bars, the river drops over rapid after rapid and turns south as it receives Dillon Creek from the right, {{convert|78|mi|km}} from the mouth. Ti Creek enters from the left and Rock Creek from the right as the river continues to flow south through a steep and narrow gorge, cutting through the Cascade Range itself. The valley of the Klamath gradually transitions from an arid high desert to a temperate rainforest climate. It drops over [[Ishi Pishi Falls]], a historical Native American fishing spot, and receives the [[Salmon River (California)|Salmon River]], its most powerful tributary thus far, from the left, {{convert|50|mi|km}} from the mouth. Here it rounds a small ridge, then turns southwest and passes the town of [[Orleans, California|Orleans]], {{convert|45|mi|km}} from the mouth. The river then bends north, west and south around another ridge, receives [[Boise Creek]] from the left and Slate Creek and Bluff Creek from the right, {{convert|28|mi|km}} from the mouth.<ref name=dams/><ref name=watershedmap/>
==Weitchpec to mouth==
The Klamath rounds a northerly bend around Burrill Peak, passing [[Weitchpec, California|Weitchpec]] as it turns northwestward on the beginning of its final run to the sea. At Weitchpec, the river receives its largest and most important tributary, the [[Trinity River (California)|Trinity River]], from the south (left), {{convert|30|mi|km}} from the mouth. A vital contributor to the flow of the lower Klamath, the Trinity drains {{convert|2853|mi2|km2}} in the Cascade Range south of the Klamath and Salmon rivers.<ref name=watershedsizes>{{cite book |title=Hydrology, Ecology, and Fishes of the Klamath River Basin |year=2008 |department=Committee on Hydrology, Ecology, and Fishes of the Klamath River |series=U.S. National Research Council |publisher=National Academies Press |place=Washington, DC  |isbn=978-0-309-11506-3 |page=31 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rqOTyb3XMHUC&q=trinity |access-date=19 May 2010 }}</ref> More than 90&nbsp;percent of its flow is diverted at [[Trinity Lake]] – leaving the most important tributaries below the dam, the [[North Fork Trinity River|North Fork]], [[South Fork Trinity River|South Fork]], and the [[New River (Trinity River)|New River]] to replenish it.<ref name=overview/> At Weitchpec, State Route&nbsp;96 turns away from the Klamath and runs south up the Trinity, and its role along the Klamath is replaced by [[California State Route 169]]. After collecting the Trinity, the Klamath turns north-northwest and receives Pine Creek and Tully Creek from the left.<ref name=dams/><ref name=watershedmap/>
[[Image:Klamath at Terwer.JPG|thumb|right|The Klamath approaching its mouth, near the Turwar Creek confluence]]
Twisting westwards, then again north, the Klamath passes the town of [[Johnsons, California|Johnsons]], {{convert|20|mi|km}} from the mouth. State Route&nbsp;169 terminates at Johnsons, and for the remainder of its course, the Klamath flows through a wild canyon nearly untouched by human intervention. It diverges around a large sandy island, and receives [[Ah Pah Creek]] from the left and Blue Creek from the right, {{convert|12|mi|km}} from the mouth. This area was originally intended to be the site of a massive storage dam, [[Ah Pah Dam]]. The river flows north through an increasingly wide valley, then passes the town of [[Klamath Glen, California|Klamath Glen]], where State Route&nbsp;169 resumes. The river meanders north and then veers west, crossing under {{nobr|[[U.S. Highway 101]]}} and passing the towns of [[Klamath, California|Klamath]] and [[Requa, California|Requa]]. All three towns are on the right bank of the river. Less than a mile downstream of this point, the Klamath empties into the sea, {{convert|16|mi|km}} south of [[Point St. George]] and {{convert|30|mi|km}} north of [[Trinidad Head]].<ref name=dams/><ref name=watershedmap/><ref>UCGS, p. 303</ref>
Much of the middle course of the river in California is within the [[Klamath National Forest]]. The lower course of the river, in northern Humboldt County and southern Del Norte County, passes through the homeland of the [[Karuk|Karuk Tribe]] and the [[Yurok Indian Reservation]]. An {{convert|11|mi|km|0|adj=on}} stretch of the river in Oregon south of Klamath Falls to the California&ndash;Oregon border, including the [[Hell's Corner Gorge]], has been designated as the [[National Wild and Scenic River|Klamath Wild and Scenic River]].<ref>Palmer, p. 141</ref>
==See also==
* [[Klamath River]]
* [[Klamath Project]], the set of [[United States Bureau of Reclamation]] dams on upstream tributaries of the Klamath, primarily for agricultural water storage
* [[Klamath River Hydroelectric Project]], the set of privately owned dams on the mainstem of the Klamath, some of which are targeted for removal
* ''[[River of Renewal: Myth and History in the Klamath Basin]]'' (book)
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==Works cited==
*Palmer, Tim (1993). ''The wild and scenic rivers of America.'' Island Press. {{ISBN|1-55963-145-7}}.
*U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (UCGS, 1951). ''United States Coast Pilot.'' University of California.
*Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology (BEST); Water Science and Technology Board (WSTB), 2008. ''Hydrology, Ecology and Fishes of the Klamath River Basin.'' National Academies Press.
==External links==
* [http://www.mkwc.org/ Mid Klamath Watershed Council]
* [http://copcolake.com/ COPCO LAKE HOME PAGE KLAMATH RIVER IRONGATE LAKE KLAMATH DAMS]
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{{Klamath River}}
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[[Category:Klamath River|Course]]