Breitenbush River

For other uses, see Breitenbush (disambiguation).

Breitenbush River
River
Breitenbush River north of Detroit.
Country	United States
State	Oregon
Regions	Mount Jefferson Wilderness, Willamette National Forest
Source	junction of North and South forks
- elevation	686 m (2,251 ft)
- coordinates	44°46′48″N 121°57′53″W
Mouth	North Santiam River
- elevation	515 m (1,690 ft)
- coordinates	44°44′57″N 122°8′2″W
Length	18.1 km (11 mi)
Basin	108 sq mi (280 km2)
Discharge	for above French Creek near Detroit Lake
- average	569 cu ft/s (16 m3/s)
- max	16,900 cu ft/s (479 m3/s)
- min	87 cu ft/s (2 m3/s)

The Breitenbush River is a tributary of the North Santiam River in western Oregon in the United States. It drains a rugged, forested area of the Cascade Range east of Salem.

It descends from several short forks in the Mount Jefferson Wilderness in the high Cascades of eastern Marion County. The South Fork Breitenbush River begins at creeks flowing from Bays Lake and Russell Lake within Jefferson Park at approximately elevation 6000 ft (1830 m) and flows WNW, joining with a number of other forks, variously unnamed depending on the map, or sometimes called North Fork of the South Fork of the South Fork, etc. The North Fork Breitenbush River begins at Breitenbush Lake (mostly on the Warm Springs Reservation) and joins with another fork which passes by Pyramid Lake. It flows WNW and connects with a half dozen other forks and creeks then turns WSW abeam Bald Butte. Several more creeks and Mink Creek and Rapidam Creek join before another fork.

The North and South forks flow west, joining 0.25 miles (400 m) east of the small community of Breitenbush. The combined stream flows generally WSW through the Willamette National Forest. It joins the North Santiam at Detroit. The lower 2 miles (3.2 km) of the river cut what is now an arm of Detroit Lake, formed by the Detroit Dam on the North Santiam. During the winter draw down of the reservoir, the original bed of the river is visible in its natural course.

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  View of tributary from road to Breitenbush Lake of North Fork Of North Fork of Breitenbush River

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  Weathered road sign naming North Fork of North Fork Breitenbush River

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  Jefferson Park at the foot of Mount Jefferson, headwaters of the South Fork of the Breitenbush River

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  View of river from Breitenbush Hot Springs

See also

• Breitenbush Hot Springs
• List of rivers of Oregon

External links

• USGS statistics report
• USGS gage readings