Whychus Creek

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Whychus Creek
Whychus Creek, Oregon.jpg
Name origin:Native American (Indian) name for the creek, according to 19th-century surveyor, Robert S. Williamson [1]
Country United States
State Oregon
County Deschutes and Jefferson
Source Broken Top, Cascade Range
 - location Deschutes National Forest, Deschutes County
 - elevation7,617 ft (2,322 m) [2]
 - coordinates 44°05′21″N121°41′36″W / 44.08917°N 121.69333°W / 44.08917; -121.69333   [3]
Mouth Deschutes River
 - location Crooked River National Grassland, Jefferson County
 - elevation2,110 ft (643 m) [3]
 - coordinates 44°27′35″N121°20′07″W / 44.45972°N 121.33528°W / 44.45972; -121.33528 Coordinates: 44°27′35″N121°20′07″W / 44.45972°N 121.33528°W / 44.45972; -121.33528   [3]
Basin253 sq mi (655 km2) [4]
USA Oregon location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location of the mouth of Whychus Creek in Oregon
TypeWild, Scenic
DesignatedOctober 28, 1988

Whychus Creek is a tributary of the Deschutes River in Deschutes and Jefferson counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. [5] Formerly named Squaw Creek, considered derogatory in the 21st century, [1] it was renamed in 2006. [6] Explorer John C. Frémont camped along the stream in 1843 but did not identify it by name. Robert S. Williamson, a surveyor who camped there in 1855, said its Indian (Native American) name was Why-chus. [1]

Deschutes River (Oregon) river in the United States of America

The Deschutes River in central Oregon is a major tributary of the Columbia River. The river provides much of the drainage on the eastern side of the Cascade Range in Oregon, gathering many of the tributaries that descend from the drier, eastern flank of the mountains. The Deschutes provided an important route to and from the Columbia for Native Americans for thousands of years, and then in the 19th century for pioneers on the Oregon Trail. The river flows mostly through rugged and arid country, and its valley provides a cultural heart for central Oregon. Today the river supplies water for irrigation and is popular in the summer for whitewater rafting and fishing.

Deschutes County, Oregon County in the United States

Deschutes County is a county in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 census, the population was 157,733. The county seat is Bend. The county was created in 1916 out of part of Crook County and was named for the Deschutes River, which itself was named by French-Canadian trappers of the early 19th century. It is the political and economic hub of Central Oregon.

Jefferson County, Oregon County in the United States

Jefferson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 census, the population was 21,720. The county seat is Madras. The county is named after Mount Jefferson.

Contents

Course

Whychus Creek begins about 7,600 feet (2,300 m) above sea level [3] at the base of Bend Glacier on Broken Top in the Cascade Range. [7] Flowing generally north through the Three Sisters Wilderness, the stream plunges over 200-foot (61 m) Upper Chush Falls before receiving Park Creek from the left and plunging over 50-foot (15 m) Chush Falls. [8] Downstream of the waterfalls, the creek receives South Fork and North Fork from the left and Snow Creek from the right. [7]

Broken Top mountain

Broken Top is a glacially eroded complex stratovolcano. It lies in the Cascade Volcanic Arc, part of the extensive Cascade Range in the U.S. state of Oregon. Located southeast of the Three Sisters peaks, the volcano, residing within the Three Sisters Wilderness, is 20 miles (32 km) west of Bend, Oregon in Deschutes County. Eruptive activity stopped roughly 100,000 years ago, and currently, erosion by glaciers has reduced the volcano's cone to where its contents are exposed. There are two named glaciers on the peak, Bend and Crook Glacier.

Cascade Range mountain range in western North America

The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, and the notable volcanoes known as the High Cascades. The small part of the range in British Columbia is referred to as the Canadian Cascades or, locally, as the Cascade Mountains. The latter term is also sometimes used by Washington residents to refer to the Washington section of the Cascades in addition to North Cascades, the more usual U.S. term, as in North Cascades National Park. The highest peak in the range is Mount Rainier in Washington at 14,411 feet (4,392 m).

Three Sisters Wilderness

The Three Sisters Wilderness is a wilderness area in the Cascade Range, within the Willamette and Deschutes National Forests in Oregon, United States. It comprises 286,708 acres (1,160.27 km2), making it the second largest wilderness area in Oregon, after the Eagle Cap Wilderness. It was established by the United States Congress in 1964 and is named for the Three Sisters volcanoes. The wilderness boundary encloses the Three Sisters as well as Broken Top, which is southeast of South Sister.

Turning northeast, the creek intersects Whychus Creek Canal, [7] which diverts water to McKenzie Canyon Reservoir and other parts of the Three Sisters Irrigation District. [9] Flowing by the southeast side of the city of Sisters, Whychus Creek passes under U.S. Route 20 and Oregon Route 126, which overlap in this vicinity, before receiving Indian Ford Creek from the left. Continuing northeast, the creek leaves Deschutes County and enters Jefferson County and the Crooked River National Grassland. [7] The creek empties into the Deschutes River downstream of the city of Redmond and about 123 miles (198 km) from the larger stream's confluence with the Columbia River. [10]

Sisters, Oregon City in Oregon, United States

Sisters is a city in Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. It is part of the Bend, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 959 at the 2000 census, but more than doubled to 2,038 as of the 2010 census.

U.S. Route 20 in Oregon highway in Oregon

U.S. Route 20 (US 20) is a major west–east cross-state highway in the northern part of the U.S. state of Oregon, especially east of the Cascade Mountains. It connects U.S. Route 101 in Newport on the central Oregon Coast to the Idaho state line east of Nyssa.

Oregon Route 126 State highway in Oregon

Oregon Route 126 is a 204.63-mile-long (329.32 km) state highway that connects coastal, western, and central parts of the U.S. state of Oregon. A short freeway section of Oregon 126 in Eugene and Springfield is concurrent with Interstate 105.

See also

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Salt Creek (Middle Fork Willamette River tributary) river in the United States of America

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Spring River (Deschutes River tributary)

The Spring River is a tributary, only about 1 mile (1.6 km) long, of the Deschutes River in Deschutes County in the U.S. state of Oregon. Arising near Anns Butte, it flows generally northeast into the Deschutes at Sunriver, about 190 miles (310 km) from the larger stream's confluence with the Columbia River. The Spring River has no named tributaries.

Chush Falls, also known as Lower Squaw Creek Falls and Lower Whychus Falls, is a waterfall formed along Whychus Creek on the north skirt of North Sister, west side of the city of Bend in Deschutes County, Oregon. Access to Chush Falls is from Forest Service Road 16, south of Highway 242. The trail to the falls ends at the canyon rim overlooking the falls, but unmarked paths lead down to the base of the waterfall.

Camp Lake (Oregon) Lake in Oregon

Camp Lake is a small alpine lake in Deschutes County in the U.S. state of Oregon. It lies between the Middle Sister and South Sister volcanic peaks at about 7,000 feet (2,100 m) above sea level in the Three Sisters Wilderness of the Cascade Range. The Camp Lake Trail skirts the lake along its north shore.

References

  1. 1 2 3 McArthur, Lewis A.; Lewis L. McArthur (2003) [1928]. Oregon Geographic Names (7th ed.). Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society Press. p. 907. ISBN   0-87595-277-1.
  2. ↑ Source elevation derived from Google Earth search using GNIS source coordinates.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Whychus Creek". Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). United States Geological Survey. November 28, 1980. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
  4. ↑ Upper Deschutes Watershed Council (2009). "Whychus Creek Restoration Monitoring Plan" (PDF). Upper Deschutes Watershed Council. p. 1. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
  5. ↑ "Whychus Creek". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey. November 28, 1980. Retrieved August 4, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Sisters Country Timeline". Sisters Country Historical Society. 1996. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Oregon Atlas & Gazetteer. Freeport, Maine: DeLorme Mapping. 1991. p. 50. ISBN   0-89933-235-8.
  8. ↑ Anderson, David L. (2007). Waterfalls of the Pacific Northwest. Woodstock, Vermont: The Countryman Press. pp. 183&ndash, 85. ISBN   978-0-88150-713-3.
  9. ↑ "Who We Are". Three Rivers Irrigation District. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
  10. ↑ United States Geological Survey (USGS). "United States Geological Survey Topographic Map". TopoQuest. Retrieved May 1, 2012. The map quadrangles include river mile (RM) markers along the Deschutes River.
United States Bureau of Reclamation government agency

The United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR), and formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it applies to the oversight and operation of the diversion, delivery, and storage projects that it has built throughout the western United States for irrigation, water supply, and attendant hydroelectric power generation. Currently the USBR is the largest wholesaler of water in the country, bringing water to more than 31 million people, and providing one in five Western farmers with irrigation water for 10 million acres of farmland, which produce 60% of the nation's vegetables and 25% of its fruits and nuts. The USBR is also the second largest producer of hydroelectric power in the western United States.

Oregon Public Broadcasting non-profit organisation in the USA

Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) is the primary television and radio public broadcasting network for most of the U.S. state of Oregon as well as southern Washington. OPB consists of five full-power television stations, dozens of VHF or UHF translators, and over 20 radio stations and frequencies. Broadcasts include local and regional programming as well as television programs from the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and American Public Television (APT), and radio programs from National Public Radio (NPR), Public Radio International (PRI), American Public Media (APM), Public Radio Exchange (PRX), and the BBC World Service, among other distributors. Its headquarters and television studios are located in Portland.

<i>Oregon Field Guide</i> television series

Oregon Field Guide is a weekly television program produced by Oregon Public Broadcasting focusing on recreation, the outdoors, and environmental issues in the state of Oregon. The show has become part of the Oregon zeitgeist. Steve Amen is the show's host and executive producer. Named for the field guides used to identify plants, animals, and natural phenomenon, the wide-ranging series covers Oregon natural history, outdoor recreation, conservation, agriculture, rural life, and other local subjects. Produced with deep narratives rather than short segments, 13 half-hour and one full-hour episodes are shown per year.

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