John Day River

John Day River
River
John Day River at Clarno
Country	United States
State	Oregon
Tributaries
- left	South Fork John Day River
- right	North Fork John Day River
Source	Strawberry Mountains
- location	Malheur National Forest, Grant County
- elevation	9,000 ft (2,743 m)
Mouth	Columbia River
- elevation	265 ft (81 m)
- coordinates	45.7326252°N 120.6492244°W / 45.7326252; -120.6492244
Length	281 mi (452 km)
Basin	8,000 sq mi (20,720 km2)
Discharge	for USGS gage 14048000, McDonald Ferry, river mile 21
- average	2,058 cu ft/s (58 m3/s)
- max	39,400 cu ft/s (1,116 m3/s)
- min	0 cu ft/s (0 m3/s)

This article is about the John Day River in eastern Oregon. There is also the John Day River in northwestern Oregon.

The John Day River is a tributary of the Columbia River, approximately 281 miles (452 km) long, in northeastern Oregon in the United States. Undammed along its entire length, the river is the third longest free-flowing river in the conterminous United States. There is extensive use of its waters for irrigation. Its free-flowing course furnishes habitat for diverse species, including wild steelhead runs. However, the steelhead populations are under federal endangered species protections, and chinook salmon have been proposed for Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) protection.

The river was named for John Day, a member of the Astor Expedition, an overland expedition to the mouth of the Columbia River that left from St. Louis, Missouri, in 1810. Day wandered lost through this part of Oregon in the winter of 1811–12.

Drainage basin

Through its tributaries, the river drains much of the western side of the Blue Mountains, flowing across the sparsely populated arid part of the state east of the Cascade Range in a northwest zigzag, then entering the Columbia upstream from the Columbia River Gorge. It flows through exceptionally scenic canyons in its upper course, with several significant paleontological sites along its banks.

The main branch of the John Day River rises in the Strawberry Mountains in eastern Grant County. The North Fork heads on the western slope of the Elkhorn Mountains in northeastern Grant County. The Middlefork rises near Blue Mountain summit on the eastern edge of Grant County. The South Fork's source is in northern Harney County (about ten miles south of the Grant County line). The main, south and middle forks each have their heads in different parts of the Malheur National Forest, while the North Fork's source is located within in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. The main fork flows initially north, then west through the John Day Valley and through the cities of Prairie City, John Day and Mount Vernon. At Dayville, in western Grant County, it is joined from the south by the South Fork John Day River, then flows north through Picture Gorge and the Sheep Rock Unit of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.

At Kimberly in northwestern Grant County, it is joined from the east by the North Fork John Day River (which had already joined with the Middle Fork John Day River above Monument, Grant County, Oregon). The river then flows west across Wheeler County. At the county line with Jefferson County it flows north, past the Clarno Unit of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. As it approaches the Columbia River in north-central Oregon it flows in an increasingly meandering course, forming the boundary between Sherman County to the west and Gilliam County to the east.

The John Day River joins the Columbia from the southeast approximately 16 miles (26 km) northeast of Biggs. The mouth of the river is on the narrow Lake Umatilla reservoir, formed on the Columbia by the John Day Dam, approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) downstream from the mouth of the John Day.

Recreation and ecosystem

The John Day River passing by Sheep Rock in the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument

The John Day is navigable by rafts and other small river craft. Its lower course is used for irrigation of cropland and ranching. In 1988, the United States Congress designated 147.5 miles (237.4 km) of the river from Service Creek to Tumwater Falls as the John Day Wild and Scenic River, as part of the National Wild and Scenic River program. The segment of the river is a popular destination for anadromous steelhead and warm water bass fishing, as well as whitewater rafting.

In addition to wild spring chinook salmon and bass, the river furnishes habitat for redband trout, bull trout, and westslope cutthroat trout. There are no hatchery salmon or steelhead released in the John Day River.

See also

• List of rivers of Oregon
• List of longest streams of Oregon
• List of National Wild and Scenic Rivers
• Lost Blue Bucket Mine, a lost mine believed to be somewhere on the John Day

External links

• Media related to John Day River at Wikimedia Commons
• National Park Service: John Day Wild and Scenic River
• Irrigation and the John Day River
• The Nature Conservancy: Middle Fork John Day River