List of longest streams of Oregon

Rogue River (seventh longest) near Indian Mary Park in Josephine County

Seventy-seven rivers and creeks of at least 50 miles (80 km) in total length are the longest streams of the U.S. state of Oregon. All of these streams originate in the United States except the longest, the Columbia, which begins in the Canadian province of British Columbia and flows 1,249 miles (2,010 km) to the sea near Astoria. The second-longest, the Snake River, which at 1,078 miles (1,735 km) is the only other stream of more than 1,000 miles (1,600 km) on the list, begins in Wyoming and flows through parts of Idaho and Washington, as well as Oregon. Some of the other streams also cross borders between Oregon and California, Nevada, Idaho, or Washington, but the majority flow entirely within Oregon.

The Atlas of Oregon ranks 31 rivers in the state by average streamflow; the top five are the Columbia, Snake, Willamette, Santiam, and Umpqua. Not all Oregon rivers with high average flows are on this list of longest streams because neither their main stems nor any of their tributaries (including what are called "forks") are at least 50 miles (80 km) long. High-flow streams mentioned in the Atlas but not included in this long-stream list are the Metolius, Hood, Youngs, and Coos rivers. On the other hand, the list includes four low-flow intermittent streams—Dry River, Rattlesnake Creek, Rock Creek, and Dry Creek—that cross parts of the Oregon High Desert.

The direction of Oregon stream flow is influenced by four major drainage divides: the Oregon Coast Range on the west, the Cascade Range further inland, the Klamath–Siskiyou Mountains in the southwest, and the Blue Mountains in the northeast. One set of streams, including the Nehalem River, flows directly into the Pacific Ocean or into larger streams flowing directly to the Pacific; other streams, such as the Deschutes River, flow into the Columbia River or its tributaries. A third set, including the Klamath River and its tributaries, originates in Oregon, but its waters eventually flow into northern California before reaching the ocean. Other streams like the Donner und Blitzen River flow into closed basins, such as Malheur Lake, that have no outlet to the sea.

Source data for the table below came from topographic maps created by the United States Geological Survey and published on-line by TopoQuest, and from the Atlas of Oregon; the Oregon Atlas and Gazetteer; two federally produced geographic information system (GIS) datasets—the National Hydrography Dataset and the National Watershed Boundary Dataset—and other sources as noted. In the table, total lengths are given in miles (mi) and kilometers (km), and elevations are in feet (ft) and meters (m).

Rivers and creeks

Sandy River, 63rd longest  McKenzie River, 26th longest  Columbia River, longest  North Umpqua River, 18th longest  Snake River, 2nd longest  Nestucca River, 67th longest

Key
Stream is not entirely within the state

Longest streams of Oregon

Name	Mouth	Total length	Watershed area	Mouth coordinates	Mouth elevation	Source coordinates	Source elevation	Source and mouth locations
Columbia River	Pacific Ocean	1,249 mi 2,010 km	258,000 mi2 668,000 km2		0 ft 0 m		2,657 ft 810 m	Source at Columbia Lake, British Columbia, mouth near Astoria
Snake River	Columbia River	1,078 mi 1,674 km	108,000 mi2 280,000 km2		358 ft 109 m		9,199 ft 2,804 m	Source in Absaroka Range, Wyoming, mouth near Tri-Cities, Washington
Owyhee River	Snake River	346 mi 557 km	11,049 mi2 28,617 km2		3,185 ft 666 ft		6,918 ft 2,109 m	Source in Independence Mountains of Nevada, mouth near Nyssa
Klamath River	Pacific Ocean	287 mi 462 km	15,700 mi2 40,700 km2		0 ft 0 m		4,090 ft 1,247 m	Source at Upper Klamath Lake, mouth near Crescent City, California
John Day River	Columbia River	284 mi 457 km	8,100 mi2 21,000 km2		269 ft 82 m		6,676 ft 2,035 m	Source in Strawberry Range, mouth near Rufus
Deschutes River	Columbia River	251 mi 405 km	10,400 mi2 26,939 km2		164 ft 50 m		4,747 ft 1,447 m	Source in Cascade Range, mouth near Biggs Junction
Rogue River	Pacific Ocean	215 mi 346 km	5,200 mi2 13,400 km2		0 ft 0 m		5,320 ft 1,622 m	Source in Cascade Range, mouth near Gold Beach
Malheur River	Snake River	190 mi 306 km	5,000 mi2 11,940 km2		2,133 ft 650 m		4,958 ft 1,511 m	Source in Strawberry Range, mouth near Ontario
Willamette River	Columbia River	187 mi 301 km	11,400 mi2 30,000 km2		10 ft 3 m		438 ft 134 m	Source near Eugene, mouth near Portland
Grande Ronde River	Snake River	182 mi 339 km	4,000 mi2 10,240 km2		820 ft 250 m		7,446 ft 2,270 m	Source in Blue Mountains, mouth on Washington–Idaho border
Powder River	Snake River	153 mi 246 km	1,720 mi2 4,455 km2		2,064 ft 629 m		4,402 ft 1,342 m	Source in Blue Mountains, mouth near Richland
Crooked River	Deschutes River	125 mi 201 km	4,300 mi2 11,137 km2		1,949 ft 594 m		3,624 ft 1,105 m	Source near Ochoco Mountains, mouth near Culver
Middle Fork Willamette River	Willamette River	122 mi 196 km	1,355 mi2 3,510 km2		436 ft 133 m		5,552 ft 1,692 m	Source in Calapooya Mountains, mouth near Springfield
Nehalem River	Pacific Ocean	119 mi 192 km	855 mi2 2,214 km2		0 ft 0 m		2,420 ft 740 m	Source in Northern Oregon Coast Range, mouth near Wheeler
North Fork John Day River	John Day River	117 mi 188 km	600 mi2 1,554 km2		1,834 ft 559 m		7,420 ft 2,260 m	Source in Elkhorn Mountains, mouth near Kimberly
Umpqua River	Pacific Ocean	112 mi 180 km	4,685 mi2 12,133 km2		0 ft 0 m		362 ft 110 m	Source near Roseburg, mouth near Reedsport
Siuslaw River	Pacific Ocean	110 mi 180 km	773 mi2 2,000 km2		0 ft 0 m		632 ft 193 m	Source in Central Oregon Coast Range, mouth at Florence
North Umpqua River	Umpqua River	110 mi 170 km	1,373 mi2 3,560 km2		361 ft 110 m		5,985 ft 1,824 m	Source in Cascade Range, mouth near Roseburg
South Umpqua River	Umpqua River	110 mi 170 km	1,800 mi2  4,700 km2		361 ft 110 m		2,009 ft 612 m	Source in Cascade Range, mouth near Roseburg
Jordan Creek	Owyhee River	99 mi 159 km	1,305 mi2 3,380 km2		3,363 ft 1,025 m		7,551 ft 2,302 m	Source in Owyhee Mountains of Idaho, mouth near Rome
Burnt River	Snake River	98 mi 158 km	1,090 mi2 2,823 km2		2,073 ft 632 m		3,824 ft 1,166 m	Source in Blue Mountains, mouth near Huntington
Silvies River	Malheur Lake	95 mi 153 km	1,273 mi2 3,300 km2		4,150 ft 1,265 m		5,649 ft 1,722 m	Source in Blue Mountains, mouth near Burns
North Santiam River	Santiam River	92 mi 148 km	766 mi2 1,984 km2		217 ft 66 m		5,133 ft 1,565 m	Source in Cascade Range, mouth in Willamette Valley
Little Deschutes River	Deschutes River	92 mi 146 km	1,020 mi2 2,642 km2		4,163 ft 1,269 m		6,219 ft 1,896 m	Source in Cascade Range, mouth near Sunriver
Smith River	Umpqua River	90 mi 140 km	218 mi2 565 km2		0 mi 0 km		1,406 ft 429 m	Source in Central Oregon Coast Range, mouth near Reedsport
McKenzie River	Willamette River	90 mi 145 km	1,300 mi2 3,367 km2		371 ft 113 m		3,570 ft 1,088 m	Source in Cascade Range, mouth near Eugene
Umatilla River	Columbia River	89 mi 143 km	2,540 mi2 6,579 km2		269 ft 82 m		2,332 ft 711 m	Source in Blue Mountains, mouth at Umatilla
Dry River (intermittent)	Crooked River	88 mi 142 km	752 mi2 1,948 km2		2,782 ft 848 m		5,886 ft 1,794 m	Source in Hampton Buttes near Brothers, mouth upstream of Smith Rock
Silver Creek	Harney Lake	87 mi 140 km	1,700 mi2 4,403 km2		4,101 ft 1,250 m		5,830 ft 1,777 m	Source in Malheur National Forest, mouth at Harney Lake
Sprague River	Williamson River	84 mi 135 km	1,560 mi2 4,050 km2		4,163 ft 1,269 m		4,326 ft 1,319 m	Source on high plateau of eastern Klamath County, mouth near Chiloquin
Clackamas River	Willamette River	83 mi 134 km	940 mi2 2,435 km2		10 ft 3 m		4,904 ft 1,496 m	Source in Cascade Range, mouth at Gladstone and Oregon City
Tualatin River	Willamette River	83 mi 134 km	712 mi2 1,844 km2		59 ft 18 m		1,978 ft 603 m	Source in Northern Oregon Coast Range, mouth near West Linn
Rock Creek	John Day River	82 mi 132 km	507 mi2 1,313 km2		404 ft 123 m		4,351 ft 1,326 m	Source in Umatilla National Forest, mouth east of Wasco
Willow Creek	Columbia River	79 mi 127 km	880 mi2 2,279 km2		269 ft 82 m		4,918 ft 1,499 m	Source in Umatilla National Forest, mouth upstream of Arlington
South Fork Crooked River	Crooked River	76 mi 123 km	1,530 mi2 4,000 km2		3,622 ft 1,104 m		4,779 ft 1,457 m	Source southeast of Brothers, mouth near Ochoco Mountains
Middle Fork John Day River	North Fork John Day River	75 mi 121 km	321 mi2 833 km2		2,198 ft 670 m		4,253 ft 1,296 m	Source in Blue Mountains, mouth near Monument
Cow Creek	South Umpqua River	75 mi 121 km	456 mi2 1,181 km2		636 ft 194 m		2,404 ft 733 m	Source in Umpqua National Forest, mouth at Canyonville
Sycan River	Sprague River	75 mi 121 km	559 mi2 1,450 km2		4,311 ft 1,314 m		7,075 ft 2,156 m	Source on high plateau of eastern Klamath County, mouth at Beatty
Imnaha River	Snake River	73 mi 117 km	855 mi2 2,214 km2		945 ft 288 m		6,641 ft 2,024 m	Source in Wallowa Mountains, mouth on Idaho border
Calapooia River	Willamette River	72 mi 116 km	365 mi2 945 km2		180 ft 55 m		4,552 ft 1,387 m	Source in Cascade Range, mouth at Albany
Williamson River	Klamath River	70 mi 110 km	3,000 mi2 7,800 km2		4,147 ft 1,264 m		5,100 ft 1,600 m	Source on high plateau of eastern Klamath County, mouth at Upper Klamath Lake
Succor Creek	Snake River	67 mi 108 km	494 mi2 1,279 km2		2,211 ft 674 m		6,976 ft 2,126 m	Source in Owyhee Mountains, mouth near Homedale, both in Idaho
Siletz River	Pacific Ocean	67 mi 108 km	373 mi2 970 km2		0 ft 0 m		708 ft 216 m	Source in Central Oregon Coast Range, mouth near Lincoln City
South Santiam River	Santiam River	66 mi 106 km	1,040 mi2 2,694 km2		217 ft 66 m		1,932 ft 589 m	Source in Cascade Range, mouth in Willamette Valley
South Fork Coquille River	Coquille River	63 mi 101 km	288 mi2 746 km2		13 ft 4 m		3,472 ft 1,058 m	Source in Siskiyou National Forest, mouth near Myrtle Point
West Little Owyhee River	Owyhee River	63 mi 101 km	310 mi2 803 km2		4,373 ft 1,333 m		6,508 ft 1,984 m	Source near McDermitt, mouth in Owyhee Desert
Pudding River	Molalla River	62 mi 100 km	531 mi2 1,375 km2		62 ft 19 m		950 ft 290 m	Source in Waldo Hills, mouth near Canby
Luckiamute River	Willamette River	62 mi 100 km	315 mi2 816 km2		164 ft 50 m		2,684 ft 818 m	Source in Central Oregon Coast Range, mouth near Buena Vista
Bully Creek	Malheur River	62 mi 99 km	540 mi2 1,560 km2		2,244 ft 684 m		4,278 ft 1,304 m	Source in Malheur County, mouth near Vale
South Fork John Day River	John Day River	60 mi 97 km	607 mi2 1,570 km2		2,329 ft 710 m		5,400 ft 1,600 m	Source in Ochoco Mountains, mouth near Dayville
Lost River	Tule Lake	60 mi 97 km	2,998 mi2 7,760 km2		4,035 ft 1,230 m		4,479 ft 1,365 m	Source at Clear Lake Reservoir, mouth at Tule Lake, both in California
Donner und Blitzen River	Malheur Lake	60 mi 97 km	791 mi2 2,050 km2		4,101 ft 1,250 m		6,526 ft 1989 m	Source near Steens Mountain, mouth at Malheur Lake
South Yamhill River	Yamhill River	60 mi 97 km	492 mi2 1,274 km2		75 ft 23 m		551 ft 168 m	Source in Northern Oregon Coast Range, mouth near McMinnville
North Fork Malheur River	Malheur River	59 mi 95 km	550 mi2 1,424 km2		2,923 ft 891 m		6,884 ft 2,098 m	Source in Strawberry Range, mouth near Juntura
Yaquina River	Pacific Ocean	59 mi 95 km	253 mi2 660 km2		0 ft 0 m		2,137 ft 651 m	Source in Central Oregon Coast Range, mouth at Newport
Butter Creek	Umatilla River	57 mi 92 km	465 mi2 1,204 km2		535 ft 163 m		5,034 ft 1,534 m	Source in Umatilla National Forest, mouth upstream of Hermiston
Rattlesnake Creek (intermittent)	Crooked Creek	57 mi 92 km	298 mi2 772 km2		3,770 ft 1,149 m		6,439 ft 1,963 m	Source in desert north of McDermitt, mouth near Burns Junction
Willow Creek	Malheur River	57 mi 92 km	787 mi2 2,038 km2		2,234 ft 681 m		3,724 ft 1,135 m	Source near Ironside, mouth near Vale
Chetco River	Pacific Ocean	56 mi 90 km	352 mi2 912 km2		0 ft 0 m		3,201 ft 976 m	Source in Klamath Mountains, mouth near Brookings
Illinois River	Rogue River	56 mi 97 km	983 mi2 2,546 km2		102 ft 31 m		1,275 ft 389 m	Source near Cave Junction (between Klamath Mountains and Siskiyou Mountains), mouth near Agness
Rock Creek (intermittent)	Catlow Valley	56 mi 90 km	269 mi2 697 km2		4,557 ft 1,389 m		6,896 ft 2,102 m	Source on Hart Mountain, mouth in Catlow Valley
Wallowa River	Grande Ronde River	55 mi 89 km	956 mi2 2,480 km2		2,316 ft 706 m		4,498 ft 1,371 m	Source in Wallowa Mountains, mouth downstream of Wallowa
Sandy River	Columbia River	55 mi 89 km	508 mi2 1,316 km2		10 ft 3 m		5,225 ft 1,593 m	Source in Cascade Range, mouth near Troutdale
Long Tom River	Willamette River	55 mi 89 km	410 mi2 1,062 km2		256 ft 78 m		1,400 ft 427 m	Source near Low Pass, mouth north of Monroe
Fifteenmile Creek	Columbia River	54 mi 87 km	373 mi2 966 km2		95 ft 29 m		6,178 ft 1,883 m	Source in Mount Hood National Forest, mouth near The Dalles
Dry Creek (intermittent)	Crooked Creek	54 mi 86 km	499 mi2 1,184 km2		3,570 ft 1,088 m		5,000 ft 1,524 m	Source near Five Points, mouth near Burns Junction
Nestucca River	Pacific Ocean	53 mi 85 km	370 mi2 960 km2		0 ft 0 m		2,246 ft 685 m	Source in Northern Oregon Coast Range, mouth near Pacific City
Warm Springs River	Deschutes River	53 mi 85 km	541 mi2 1,401 km2		1,240 ft 378 m		4,023 ft 1,226 m	Source in Cascade Range, mouth near Kahneeta
North Fork Coquille River	Coquille River	53 mi 85 km	154 mi2 399 km2		13 ft 4 m		1,647 ft 502 m	Source in central Coast Range, mouth near Myrtle Point
Chewaucan River	Abert Lake	53 mi 86 km	651 mi2 1,686 km2		4,258 ft 1,298 m		5,151 ft 1,570 m	Source in Fremont National Forest, mouth at Abert Lake
Applegate River	Rogue River	51 mi 82 km	767 mi2 1,990 km2		850 ft 259 m		2,534 ft 772 m	Source in Siskiyou Mountains in California, mouth near Grants Pass
Trout Creek	Deschutes River	51 mi 82 km	692 mi2 1,792 km2		1,283 ft 391 m		5,593 ft 1,705 m	Source in Ochoco Mountains, mouth at Jefferson–Wasco county line
Cow Creek	Jordan Creek	51 mi 82 km	330 mi2 855 km2		4,216 ft 1,285 m		7,048 ft 2,148 m	Source near De Lamar, Idaho, mouth at Danner
Crooked Creek	Owyhee River	51 mi 82 km	1,340 mi2 3,500 km2		3,343 ft 1,019 m		3,921 ft 1,195 m	Source at Crooked Creek Spring, mouth near Rome
Minam River	Wallowa River	51 mi 82 km	239 mi2 618 km2		2,536 ft 773 m		7,684 ft 2,342 m	Source in the Eagle Cap Wilderness, mouth at Minam
Molalla River	Willamette River	50 mi 80 km	877 mi2 2,270 km2		69 ft 21 m		3,304 ft 1,007 m	Source in Cascade Range, mouth near Canby
Walla Walla River	Columbia River	50 mi 80 km	1,758 mi2 4,453 km2		404 ft 123 m		1,360 ft 410 m	Source near Milton-Freewater, mouth near Wallula, Washington

The Willamette River (10th longest) runs through the center of Portland, Oregon.

See also

• List of rivers of Oregon
• List of longest rivers in the United States by state

Notes and references

Notes

References

Works cited

• Benke, Arthur C., ed., and Cushing, Colbert E., ed.; Carter, James L.; Resh, Vincent H. (2005). "Chapter 12: Pacific Coast Rivers of the Coterminous United States" in Rivers of North America. Burlington, Massachusetts: Elsevier Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-12-088253-3.
• Benke, Arthur C., ed., and Cushing, Colbert E., ed.; Stanford, Jack A.; Gregory, Stanley V.; Hauer, F. Richard; Snyder, Eric B. (2005). "Chapter 13: Columbia River Basin" in Rivers of North America. Burlington, Massachusetts: Elsevier Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-12-088253-3.
• Loy, William G., ed.; Allan, Stuart; Buckley, Aileen R.; Meacham, James E. (2001) [1976]. Atlas of Oregon, 2nd edition. Eugene, Oregon: University of Oregon Press. ISBN 978-0-87114-101-9.

External links

• Map of Oregon drainage basins published by State of Oregon Water Resources Department