Tenmile Creek (Coos County, Oregon)

	Tenmile Creek
	The creek passes under U.S. Route 101 and a railway trestle after leaving Tenmile Lake.
Country	United States
State	Oregon
County	Coos
Source	Tenmile Lake
- location	Lakeside
- elevation	14 ft (4 m) [1]
- coordinates	43°34′24″N124°10′24″W / 43.57333°N 124.17333°W [2]
Mouth	Pacific Ocean
- elevation	3 ft (1 m) [2]
- coordinates	43°33′42″N124°13′55″W / 43.56167°N 124.23194°W Coordinates: 43°33′42″N124°13′55″W / 43.56167°N 124.23194°W [2]
Length	3 mi (5 km) [3]
	Location of the mouth of Tenmile Creek in Oregon

Last updated February 26, 2019

Tenmile Creek is the outlet for a chain of lakes ending at Tenmile Lake near Lakeside in Coos County in the U.S. state of Oregon. The creek flows generally west for about 3 miles (5 km) from the lake to the Pacific Ocean.^[3] The stream's name stems from its approximate distance from Winchester Bay, the earliest pioneer village along this part of the coast.^[4]

Tenmile Lake is the largest and southernmost of a chain of lakes along the Oregon Coast south of the Umpqua River in the United States. The chain includes North Tenmile, Eel, Clear, and smaller lakes, which drain into the Pacific Ocean via Tenmile Creek. The lake is 8 miles (13 km) south of Reedsport and 0.5 miles (0.80 km) east of U.S. Route 101 near the community of Lakeside.

Lakeside is a city in Coos County, Oregon, United States. The population was 1,699 at the 2010 census.

Coos County is a county in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 census, the population was 63,043. The county seat is Coquille. The county was formed from the western parts of Umpqua and Jackson counties. It is named after a tribe of Native Americans who live in the region.

Course

Tenmile Creek meanders generally west from its source at Lakeside, which is on the creek's right bank. Slightly west of town, the creek enters the Siuslaw National Forest, then passes under U.S. Route 101. Just beyond the highway, Eel Creek, the outlet from Eel Lake, enters from the right. Turning south parallel to the highway, which is on its left, Tenmile Creek arrives at Spinreel Campground, where Saunders Creek enters from the left. Turning northwest, Tenmile Creek enters Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, through which it meanders until reaching the ocean.^[5]

The Siuslaw National Forest is a national forest in western Oregon in the United States. Established in 1908, the Siuslaw is made up of a wide variety of ecosystems, ranging from coastal forests to sand dunes.

U.S. Route 101 (US 101), is a major north–south U.S. Highway in Oregon that runs through the state along the coastline near the Pacific Ocean. It runs from the California border, south of Brookings, to the Washington state line on the Columbia River, between Astoria, Oregon, and Megler, Washington.

Eel Lake is large, deep lake in a chain of water bodies along the Oregon Coast south of the Umpqua River in the United States. The chain includes other large lakes—Clear, North Tenmile, and Tenmile—as well as smaller lakes, which drain into the Pacific Ocean via Tenmile Creek.

Geology and geography

Tenmile Lake is the largest and southernmost of a chain of lakes that formed behind a ridge of dunes along the Oregon Coast south of the Umpqua River. The lakes developed after rising sea levels, driven by post-glacial warming, drowned the lower reaches of ancestral Tenmile Creek and its tributaries. Sand dunes later blocked the streams and helped produce lakes at varied elevations within the Tenmile drainage basin. Other large lakes in the chain are, from north to south, Clear, Eel, and North Tenmile. All drain toward Lakeside, about 8 miles (13 km) south of Reedsport and 0.5 miles (0.8 km) east of U.S. Route 101 ^[6]

In physical geography, a dune is a hill of loose sand built by aeolian processes (wind) or the flow of water. Dunes occur in different shapes and sizes, formed by interaction with the flow of air or water. Most kinds of dunes are longer on the stoss (upflow) side, where the sand is pushed up the dune, and have a shorter "slip face" in the lee side. The valley or trough between dunes is called a slack. A "dune field" or erg is an area covered by extensive dunes.

The Oregon Coast is a region of the U.S. state of Oregon. It runs generally north–south along the Pacific Ocean, forming the western border of the state; the region is bounded to the east by the Oregon Coast Range. The Oregon Coast stretches approximately 362 miles (583 km) from the Columbia River in the north to the California state border in the south. The Oregon Coast is not a specific geological, environmental, or political entity, but instead includes the entire coastline of Oregon, including the Columbia River Estuary.

The Umpqua River on the Pacific coast of Oregon in the United States is approximately 111 miles (179 km) long. One of the principal rivers of the Oregon Coast and known for bass and shad, the river drains an expansive network of valleys in the mountains west of the Cascade Range and south of the Willamette Valley, from which it is separated by the Calapooya Mountains. From its source northeast of Roseburg, the Umpqua flows northwest through the Oregon Coast Range and empties into the Pacific at Winchester Bay. The river and its tributaries flow entirely within Douglas County, which encompasses most of the watershed of the river from the Cascades to the coast. The "Hundred Valleys of the Umpqua" form the heart of the timber industry of southern Oregon, generally centered on Roseburg.

Recreation

The United States Forest Service manages Spinreel Campground, near the confluence of Tenmile and Saunders Creek and the edge of the dunes. Spinreel has a boat ramp for non-motorized boats and a staging area for dune buggies. Activities at the campground include fishing for steelhead (sea-run rainbow trout), picnicking, and recreational vehicle (RV) camping.^[7]

United States Forest Service federal forest and grassland administrators

The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass 193 million acres (780,000 km²). Major divisions of the agency include the National Forest System, State and Private Forestry, Business Operations, and the Research and Development branch. Managing approximately 25% of federal lands, it is the only major national land agency that is outside the U.S. Department of the Interior.

A dune buggy — also known as a beach buggy — is a recreational motor vehicle with large wheels, and wide tires, designed for use on sand dunes, beaches, or desert recreation.

The rainbow trout is a trout and species of salmonid native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coastal rainbow trout(O. m. irideus) or Columbia River redband trout (O. m. gairdneri) that usually returns to fresh water to spawn after living two to three years in the ocean. Freshwater forms that have been introduced into the Great Lakes and migrate into tributaries to spawn are also called steelhead.

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References

↑ Source elevation derived from Google Earth search using GNIS source coordinates.
1 2 3 "Tenmile Creek". Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). United States Geological Survey. November 28, 1980. Retrieved December 31, 2012.
1 2 Sheehan, Madelynne Diness (2005). Fishing in Oregon: The Complete Oregon Fishing Guide (10th ed.). Scappoose, Oregon: Flying Pencil Publications. p. 96. ISBN 0-916473-15-5.
↑ McArthur, Lewis A.; McArthur, Lewis L. (2003) [1928]. Oregon Geographic Names (7th ed.). Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society Press. p. 943. ISBN 978-0875952772.
↑ United States Geological Survey (USGS). "United States Geological Survey Topographic Map". TopoQuest. Retrieved December 31, 2012. The relevant quadrangle is Lakeside.
↑ Johnson, Daniel M.; Petersen, Richard R.; Lycan, D. Richard; Sweet, James W.; Neuhaus, Mark E., and Schaedel, Andrew L. (1985). Atlas of Oregon Lakes. Corvallis: Oregon State University Press. pp. 130&ndash, 31 and 243. ISBN 0-87071-343-4.
↑ "Spinreel Campground". U.S. Forest Service. Retrieved December 31, 2012.

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[source-1] Source elevation derived from Google Earth search using GNIS source coordinates.

[gnis-2] 1 2 3 "Tenmile Creek". Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). United States Geological Survey. November 28, 1980. Retrieved December 31, 2012.

[Sheehan-3] 1 2 Sheehan, Madelynne Diness (2005). Fishing in Oregon: The Complete Oregon Fishing Guide (10th ed.). Scappoose, Oregon: Flying Pencil Publications. p. 96. ISBN 0-916473-15-5.

[OGN-4] McArthur, Lewis A.; McArthur, Lewis L. (2003) [1928]. Oregon Geographic Names (7th ed.). Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society Press. p. 943. ISBN 978-0875952772.

[topoquest-5] United States Geological Survey (USGS). "United States Geological Survey Topographic Map". TopoQuest. Retrieved December 31, 2012. The relevant quadrangle is Lakeside.

[1985_lake_atlas-6] Johnson, Daniel M.; Petersen, Richard R.; Lycan, D. Richard; Sweet, James W.; Neuhaus, Mark E., and Schaedel, Andrew L. (1985). Atlas of Oregon Lakes. Corvallis: Oregon State University Press. pp. 130&ndash, 31 and 243. ISBN 0-87071-343-4.

[7] "Spinreel Campground". U.S. Forest Service. Retrieved December 31, 2012.