Crabtree Creek is a tributary of the
South Santiam River
The South Santiam River is a tributary of the Santiam River, about long, in western Oregon in the United States. It drains an area of the Cascade Range into the Willamette Valley east of Corvallis.
It rises in the Cascades in southeastern Linn ...
in
Linn County in the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
of
Oregon
Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...
. It begins in the western foothills of the
Cascade Range at Crabtree Mountain near Crabtree Lake. From there it flows generally west to meet the larger stream about upstream of where the South Santiam merges with the
North Santiam River to form the
Santiam River
The Santiam River is a tributary of the Willamette River, about long, in western Oregon in the United States. Through its two principal tributaries, the North Santiam and the South Santiam rivers, it drains a large area of the Cascade Range a ...
.
[ The map includes mile markers along the lower of the creek.]
Oregon Route 226 crosses the creek between
Crabtree on the south and
Scio on the north about from the
mouth.
The unincorporated community of
Lacomb lies south of the creek, along one of its tributaries slightly west of the Cascade foothills.
Bridges
In addition to the Route 226 bridge, the creek flows under two
covered bridge
A covered bridge is a timber-truss bridge with a roof, decking, and siding, which in most covered bridges create an almost complete enclosure. The purpose of the covering is to protect the wooden structural members from the weather. Uncovered woo ...
s.
Larwood Bridge carries Fish Hatchery Road over the creek at Larwood Wayside Park, about north of Lacomb and by water from the creek mouth.
Further downstream,
Hoffman Bridge carries Hungry Hill Drive over the creek about a mile north of Crabtree and from the mouth.
Recreation
Larwood Park lies at the confluence of
Roaring River with Crabtree Creek about by water from the creek mouth.
Covering , it has picnic tables, river views, a footbridge, a waterwheel that formerly powered a mill at the site, as well as places to fish and swim. ''
Ripley's Believe It or Not!'' once listed the confluence as the only one in the world where a stream named "river" emptied into a stream named "creek".
This was, however, incorrect. Fall River is a tributary of
Clear Creek in Colorado.
Fishing for wild
cutthroat trout in the creek is permitted on a
catch-and-release
Catch and release is a practice within recreational fishing where after capture, often a fast measurement and weighing of the fish is performed, followed by posed photography as proof of the catch, and then the fish are unhooked and returned ...
basis; fishing for
steelhead
Steelhead, or occasionally steelhead trout, is the common name of the anadromous form of the coastal rainbow trout or redband trout (O. m. gairdneri). Steelhead are native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific basin in Northeast Asia and ...
is not allowed. The creek is not stocked with hatchery fish.
Whitewater enthusiasts sometimes run parts of Crabtree Creek in
kayaks or other craft. A run from the North Fork Bridge to Larwood Park, is rated class 3T or 4 (intermediate or advanced) on the
International Scale of River Difficulty. The run below that is less difficult. Hazards include rocks, logs, overhanging limbs, and a dangerous
barbed-wire
A close-up view of a barbed wire
Roll of modern agricultural barbed wire
Barbed wire, also known as barb wire, is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strands. Its primary use is ...
fence across most of the river a few miles downstream of the Route 226 bridge.
Tributaries
Named tributaries from source to
mouth are Bonnie, White Rock, Dorgan, South Fork Crabtree, and Bald Peter creeks, all from the
left; Rock Creek from the right; Green Mountain Creek from the left; Hunter and Church creeks, Roaring River, all from the right, and Beaver Creek, from the left.
See also
*
List of covered bridges in Oregon
This list of Oregon covered bridges contains 50 historic covered bridges remaining in the U.S. state of Oregon.
Most covered bridges in Oregon were built between 1905 and 1925. At its peak, there were an estimated 450 covered bridges, which by 1 ...
*
List of rivers of Oregon
This is a partial listing of rivers in the state of Oregon, United States. This list of Oregon rivers is organized alphabetically and by tributary structure. The list may also include streams known as creeks, brooks, forks, branches and prongs, as ...
References
{{authority control
Rivers of Linn County, Oregon
Rivers of Oregon