The Willamette River is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is 187 miles (301 km) long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward between the Oregon Coast Range and the Cascade Range, the river and its tributaries form the Willamette Valley, a basin that contains two-thirds of Oregon's population, including the state capital, Salem, and the state's largest city, Portland, which surrounds the Willamette's mouth at the Columbia.
The McKenzie River is a 90-mile (145 km) tributary of the Willamette River in western Oregon in the United States. It drains part of the Cascade Range east of Eugene and flows westward into the southernmost end of the Willamette Valley. It is named for Donald McKenzie, a Scottish Canadian fur trader who explored parts of the Pacific Northwest for the Pacific Fur Company in the early 19th century. As of the 21st century, six large dams have been built on the McKenzie and its tributaries.
The Willamette National Forest is a National Forest located in the central portion of the Cascade Range of the U.S. state of Oregon. It comprises 1,678,031 acres (6,790.75 km2). Over 380,000 acres are designated wilderness which include, seven major mountain peaks. There are also several National Wild and Scenic Rivers within the forest. The forest is named for the Willamette River, which has its headwaters in the forest. The forest headquarters are located in the city of Springfield. There are local ranger district offices in McKenzie Bridge, Detroit, Sweet Home, and Westfir.
Oregon Route 58, also known as the Willamette Highway No. 18, is a state highway in the U.S. state of Oregon. The route, signed east–west, runs in a southeast–northwest direction, connecting U.S. Route 97 north of Chemult with Interstate 5 south of Eugene. It links the Willamette Valley and Central Oregon, crossing the Cascade Range at Willamette Pass. OR 58 is generally a modern two-lane highway with a speed limit of 55 mph (88 km/h), built through the Willamette National Forest in the 1930s.
The North Fork Middle Fork Willamette River as it is officially named but frequently called North Fork of the Willamette River or North Fork of the Middle Fork of the Willamette River has its headwaters at Waldo Lake and flows into the Middle Fork Willamette River northwest of Oakridge. In the first 3 miles (5 km) below Waldo Lake, the river drops 2,400 feet (730 m) in 34 separate waterfalls through diverse natural plant life and old growth forest.
The Middle Fork Willamette River is one of several forks that unite to form the Willamette River in the western part of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is approximately 115 miles (185 km) long, draining an area of the Cascade Range southeast of Eugene, which is at the southern end of the Willamette Valley.
The Willamette River flows northwards down the Willamette Valley until it meets the Columbia River at a point 101 miles from the Pacific Ocean, in the U.S. state of Oregon.
Blue River is a tributary of the McKenzie River in Linn and Lane counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. From its source at the confluence of Mann and Wolf creeks in the Cascade Range, it flows generally southwest to join the McKenzie near the community of Blue River. Saddle Dam and Blue River Dam block the river about 2 miles (3 km) from its mouth to form Blue River Reservoir, a multipurpose impoundment built in 1968 by the United States Army Corps of Engineers.
Lookout Point Lake is a large reservoir on the Middle Fork Willamette River in Lane County, Oregon, United States. It was created in 1953 with the construction of Lookout Point Dam.
Dexter Reservoir is a reservoir in Lane County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is about 16 miles (26 km) southeast of Eugene on the Middle Fork Willamette River, immediately downriver from Lookout Point Lake, another reservoir. The communities of Dexter and Lowell are near the lake. Oregon Route 58 follows the lake's southern shore, while Pengra Road parallels the lake's northern shore as far east as Lowell.
The Willamette River is a 187-mile (301 km) tributary of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Oregon. The upper tributaries of the Willamette originate in mountains south and southeast of the twin cities of Eugene and Springfield. Formed by the confluence of the Middle Fork Willamette River and Coast Fork Willamette River near Springfield, the main stem meanders generally north from source to mouth. The river's two most significant course deviations occur at Newberg, where the stream turns sharply east, and about 18 miles (29 km) downriver from Newberg, where it turns north again. Near its mouth, the river splits into two channels that flow around Sauvie Island. The main channel enters the Columbia about 101 miles (163 km) from the larger stream's mouth on the Pacific Ocean, and the smaller Multnomah Channel enters the Columbia about 14.5 miles (23.3 km) further downstream near St. Helens in Columbia County.
Blue River Reservoir is an artificial impoundment, about 6 miles (10 km) long, of the Blue River in Lane County in the U.S. state of Oregon. The reservoir is about 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Oregon Route 126 in the Willamette National Forest about 45 miles (72 km) east of Eugene.
Hills Creek Dam is a dam about 4 miles (6.4 km) southeast of Oakridge in Lane County, Oregon, United States. It impounds Hills Creek Reservoir, which has a surface area of 2,735 acres (1,107 ha) and a shoreline of roughly 44 miles (71 km), on the Middle Fork Willamette River.
Hills Creek is a tributary, about 16 miles (26 km) long, of the Middle Fork Willamette River in the U.S. state of Oregon. From its headwaters on Juniper Ridge in the Cascade Range, the creek flows northwest through Lane County and the Willamette National Forest for its entire course.
Salt Creek is a 30-mile (48 km) tributary of the Middle Fork Willamette River in Lane County in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is named for salt springs along its banks that are used as licks by deer. The stream originates as an outflow of Lower Betty Lake in the forested Cascade Range just southeast of Waldo Lake. It proceeds generally south, through Gold Lake, to Route 58, which it then follows mainly northwest for about 26 miles (42 km) to its mouth at the Middle Fork Willamette River just below Hills Creek Dam. At Salt Creek Falls—roughly 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Willamette Pass and a little more than 22 miles (35 km) upstream from the mouth—the stream plunges 286 feet (87 m), discharging an average of 50,000 U.S. gallons (190,000 L) of water per minute, or 111 cubic feet per second (3.1 m3/s). Below the falls, the creek enters a narrow canyon shaped by glaciation and basaltic lava flows from higher in the Cascades. McCredie Hot Springs, at the former community of McCredie Springs, are natural hot springs along the lower half of Salt Creek beside Route 58.
Fall Creek Lake is a reservoir in Lane County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is about 22 miles (35 km) southeast of Eugene on Fall Creek, immediately upstream from Unity Bridge, a covered bridge. The communities of Unity, at the bridge site, and Lowell, south of Unity, are near the lake. The unincorporated community of Jasper is further downstream, below the confluence of Fall Creek with the Middle Fork Willamette River.
Lost Creek is a tributary of the Middle Fork Willamette River in the U.S. state of Oregon. It begins in the Cascade Range foothills between Dorena Lake and Lookout Point Lake and flows generally north to meet the river downstream of Lowell. Along the way, it passes by the rural community of Dexter, then under Oregon Route 58, and through part of Elijah Bristow State Park. Named tributaries of Lost Creek from source to mouth are Guiley, Gossage, Carr, Middle, Anthony, and Wagner creeks.
