Illinois River (Oregon)
| Illinois River | |
 Rafting the Green Wall Rapids on the Illinois River
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| Name origin: The U.S. state of Illinois, the birthplace of three brothers named Althouse who emigrated to Oregon and mined for gold along Althouse Creek and the Illinois River[1] | |
| Country | United States |
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| State | Oregon |
| County | Josephine and Curry |
| Source | Confluence of East Fork Illinois River and West Fork Illinois River |
| - location | near Cave Junction, Josephine County, Oregon |
| - elevation | 1,271 ft (387 m) [2] |
| - coordinates | 42°09′35″N 123°39′33″W / 42.15972°N 123.65917°W [3] |
| Mouth | Rogue River |
| - location | Agness, Curry County, Oregon |
| - elevation | 102 ft (31 m) [3] |
| - coordinates | 42°33′00″N 124°03′58″W / 42.55°N 124.06611°W [3] |
| Length | 56 mi (90 km) [4][5] |
| Basin | 983 sq mi (2,546 km2) [6] |
| Discharge | for near Kerby, 50.3 miles (81.0 km) from the mouth |
| - average | 1,262 cu ft/s (36 m3/s) [7] |
| - max | 92,200 cu ft/s (2,611 m3/s) |
| - min | 121 cu ft/s (3 m3/s) |
  Location of the mouth of the Illinois River in Oregon
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 Southwestern Oregon rivers
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The Illinois River is a tributary, about 56 miles (90 km) long, of the Rogue River in the U.S. state of Oregon. It drains part of the Klamath Mountains in northern California and southwestern Oregon. The river's main stem begins at the confluence of its east and west forks near Cave Junction in southern Josephine County. Its drainage basin includes Sucker Creek, which rises in the Red Buttes Wilderness, near Whiskey Peak on the California state line. The main stem flows generally northwest in a winding course past Kerby and through the Siskiyou National Forest and Kalmiopsis Wilderness. It joins the Rogue River from the south at Agness on the Curry–Josephine county line, 27 miles (43 km) from the Pacific Ocean.
The river's lower 50.4 miles (81.1 km), from where it enters the Rogue River – Siskiyou National Forest downstream from Kerby to its confluence with the Rogue River, were designated Wild and Scenic in 1984. Of this, 28.7 miles (46.2 km) is protected as wild, 17.9 miles (28.8 km) as scenic, and 3.8 miles (6.1 km) as recreational.[4]
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[edit] Tributaries
Sucker Creek is named after the state of Illinois, one of whose nicknames is the Sucker State. Miners from Illinois named the creek.[8] In 2011, the U.S. Forest Service worked on a project to improve the creek.[9] The project is a fishery rehabilitation project.[10]
[edit] Rafting and kayaking
The Illinois River is "a wilderness river that tests both the skill and strength of boaters".[11] For the 31-mile (50 km) run along the Wild and Scenic part of the river between upper Oak Flat near Kerby and lower Oak Flat, boaters are far from trails and roads.[11] Depending on the water flow, this stretch of the river has eight class 4 to 4+ rapids. Green Wall, a class 5, "is considerably more difficult and longer than the others"[11] and below it lie 3 miles (4.8 km) of difficult rapids. The river is generally run by raft or kayak during the rainy season, October through April.[11] At flows below 800 cubic feet per second (23 m3/s), boating is difficult because of exposed rocks, and flows above 3,000 cubic feet per second (85 m3/s) "turn the river into boiling holes and rapids."[11] A heavy rain can turn an ordinary trip into a high-water nightmare.[11]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ McArthur, Lewis A.; McArthur, Lewis L. (2003). Oregon Geographic Names, Seventh Edition. Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society Press. p. 495. ISBN 0-87595-277-1.
- ^ Source elevation derived from Google Earth search using Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) source coordinates.
- ^ a b c "Illinois River". Geographic Names Information System, U.S. Geological Survey. November 28, 1980. http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:1143993. Retrieved May 20, 2009.
- ^ a b "Illinois River, Oregon". National Wild and Scenic Rivers. http://www.rivers.gov/wsr-illinois.html. Retrieved May 22, 2009.
- ^ The distance between the source and the upstream boundary of the Wild and Scenic section, which begins at river mile (RM) 50.4 (river kilometer 81.1) and ends at the mouth, is an estimate based on map scale and ruler.
- ^ Hickman, O. Eugene. "Potential Natural (Historic?) Vegetation of the Central Illinois River Valley". Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. https://nrimp.dfw.state.or.us/DataClearinghouse/default.aspx?pn=viewrecord&XMLname=652.xml. Retrieved May 22, 2009. The document is Appendix E of the Illinois Appendices in zipped PDF format.
- ^ "Water-Data Report 2007: 14377100 Illinois River near Kerby, OR" (PDF). United States Geological Survey. http://wdr.water.usgs.gov/wy2007/pdfs/14377100.2007.pdf. Retrieved May 20, 2009.
- ^ "Since You Asked: Sucker Creek got its name from Illinois". Mail Tribune. August 17, 2011. http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110817/NEWS/108170333/-1/NEWSLETTER100. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
- ^ "Sucker Creek Restoration Project". KDRV. http://kdrv.com/news/local/220586. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
- ^ Fattig, Paul. "S. Ore. project to restore salmon fishery". Bend Bulleting. Mail Tribune. http://www.bendbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110811/NEWS0107/108110400/1009/NEWS01&nav_category=NEWS01. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f Giordano, pp. 122–24
[edit] Works cited
- Giordano, Pete (2004). Soggy Sneakers: A Paddler's Guide to Oregon's Rivers, fourth edition. Seattle: The Mountaineers Books. ISBN 978-0-89886-815-9.
[edit] Gallery
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The West Fork Illinois River.
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The Illinois River runs through the Kalmiopsis Wilderness.
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Rafting the Illinois River in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness.
[edit] External links
- Oregon Rafting
- The coordinates for the Illinois River source are 42°09′35″N 123°39′33″W / 42.1598354°N 123.6592351°W, and for the mouth they are 42°33′00″N 124°03′58″W / 42.5501086°N 124.0661995°W.
