The Calapooya Mountains are a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

Lane In road transport, a lane is part of a roadway that is designated to be used by a single line of vehicles to control and guide drivers and reduce traffic conflicts. Most public roads (highways) have at least two lanes, one for traffic in each ...

and

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...

counties of southwestern

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The range runs for approximately west from the

Cascade Range 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, ...

between Eugene on the north and Roseburg on the south.

Geology

The Calapooya Mountains are composed of volcanic rocks and newer sedimentary strata. The mountains have been deeply eroded by the

Coast Fork Willamette River The Coast Fork Willamette River is one of two forks that unite to form the Willamette River in western Oregon in the United States. It is about long, draining an area of the mountains at the south end of the Willamette Valley south of Eugene. Co ...

and its tributaries. In the southern drainage, the tributaries of the North Umpqua River have cut into the southern slopes. The soil is silty, clay loam formed from sandstone, sediment, and igneous rocks.

Topography

The Calapooya Mountains and the Calapooya Divide are two parts of a spur of the Western Cascade mountains in the U.S. state of

that form the divide between the

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

s of the Willamette and Umpqua rivers. At its southeastern end, the spur joins the

near Cowhorn Mountain near the headwaters of the

Middle Fork Willamette River 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 long, draining an area of the Cascade Range southeast of Eugene, which is at th ...

and the

North Umpqua River The North Umpqua River is a tributary of the Umpqua River, about long, in southwestern Oregon in the United States. It drains a scenic and rugged area of the Cascade Range southeast of Eugene, flowing through steep canyons and surrounded by larg ...

. A

topographic Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary scie ...

map in the ''Atlas of Oregon'' shows the Calapooya Mountains curving northwest from near Potter, McGowan, and Balm mountains past

Bohemia Mountain Bohemia Mountain is a mountain in the Cascade Range of the U.S. state of Oregon, within the Umpqua National Forest. Its elevation is . A trail traverses the mountain and leads to the summit. There is a location east of the trail's end where on a ...

to Holland Point, south of Oakridge. From near Bohemia Mountain, a block of mountains connected to the Calapooya Mountains runs due west along the border between

and

counties to the vicinity of

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Califor ...

(I-5) near Rice Hill. This block is known as the Calapooya Divide. To the north along I-5 are Cottage Grove and Eugene and to the south are Sutherlin and Roseburg.Loy, pp. 264–65 Streams flowing south from the Calapooyas into the North Umpqua River include Steamboat, Canton, and Rock creeks, while

Calapooya Creek Calapooya Creek is a tributary, about long, of the Umpqua River in Douglas County in the U.S. state of Oregon. Formed by its north and south forks, the creek drains a mountainous region south of the Calapooya Divide and east of Oakland and S ...

flows west from the divide into the Umpqua main stem. Streams flowing north or east into the Middle Fork Willamette River include Tumblebug, Staley, Coal, and Packard creeks. Flowing northwest or west into the Coast Fork Willamette River or its major tributary, the

Row River The Row River is a river, approximately long, in Lane County, Oregon, United States. It rises in the Cascade Range and flows into the Coast Fork Willamette River near Cottage Grove. The stream was originally known as the "East Fork Coast Fork", ...

, are Brice, Layng, and Mosby creeks and Big River. The Umpqua flows west through the

Oregon Coast Range The Oregon Coast Range, often called simply the Coast Range and sometimes the Pacific Coast Range, is a mountain range, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region, in the U.S. state of Oregon along the Pacific Ocean. This north-south runni ...

to the Pacific Ocean at

Reedsport Reedsport is a city in Douglas County, Oregon, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,310. History Reedsport was established on the estuary of the Umpqua River on January 7, 1852. It was named for a local settler, Alfred ...

, while the Willamette flows north to the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...

, which flows northwest to the Pacific Ocean at Astoria. The highest peaks in the range include Balm Mountain at above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

, Potter Mountain at , and McGowan Mountain at , all near the southeastern end of the range. Along the divide, Huckleberry Mountain in the east rises to , while Ben More Mountain near I-5 is only high. Bohemia Mountain and its close neighbor Fairview Peak reach identical peak elevations of , while Holland Point near Oakridge is high.

Climate

The climate in the Calapooya Mountains follows a pattern of wet winters and dry summers. Precipitation generally increases with elevation, ranging from an average of per year in the valleys to on the mountain peaks. Above , a significant part of this falls as snow.

History

Throughout the history of the region, the range has provided a geographic and cultural barrier between the

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a long valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east, ...

and the South Umpqua Valley, effectively separating

Western Oregon Western Oregon is a geographical term that is generally taken to mean the part of the U.S. state of Oregon within of the Oregon Coast, on the west side of the crest of the Cascade Range. The term is applied somewhat loosely, however, and is somet ...

from

Southern Oregon Southern Oregon is a region of the U.S. state of Oregon south of Lane County and generally west of the Cascade Range, excluding the southern Oregon Coast. Counties include Douglas, Jackson, Klamath, and Josephine. It includes the Southern Oreg ...

. In the 19th century, it separated the tribal domains of the

Kalapuya The Kalapuya are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American ethnic group, people, which had eight independent groups speaking three mutually intelligible dialects. The Kalapuya tribes' traditional homelands were the Willamette Va ...

and Umpqua tribes of Native Americans. During the 1840s, the mountains proved a barrier to white settlers seeking to move into southern Oregon or to move southward to the California gold fields. The

Applegate Trail The Applegate Trail was an emigrant trail through the present-day U.S. states of Idaho, Nevada, California, and Oregon used in the mid-19th century by emigrants on the American frontier. It was originally intended as a less dangerous alternative ...

, blazed in the late 1840s, provided the first reliable path for white settlement through the western end of the mountains.

essentially follows the route of the trail between Eugene and Roseburg. The mountains have been an important

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

source in the 20th century. The eastern end of the mountains are largely within the

Umpqua National Forest Umpqua National Forest, in southern Oregon's Cascade Range, covers an area of in Douglas County, Oregon, Douglas, Lane County, Oregon, Lane, and Jackson County, Oregon, Jackson counties, and borders Crater Lake National Park. The four ranger di ...

in the south and

Willamette National Forest 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 . Over 380,000 acres (694 mi2, 1,540 km2) are designated wilderness which include seven ...

in the north.

References

Works cited

*Loy, William G., ''et al.'' (2001). ''Atlas of Oregon''. Eugene, Oregon: University of Oregon Press. . {{Authority control Mountain ranges of Oregon Landforms of Lane County, Oregon Landforms of Douglas County, Oregon Willamette National Forest Umpqua National Forest