The Priest River is a long
tributary
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...
of the
Pend Oreille River
The Pend Oreille River ( ) is a tributary of the Columbia River, approximately long, in northern Idaho and northeastern Washington in the United States, as well as southeastern British Columbia in Canada. In its passage through British Columbi ...
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
Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...
. It is part of the
Columbia River basin, as the Pend Oreille River is a tributary of the Columbia River. The river's
drainage basin
A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...
is in area.
[Intermountain Subbasin Plan, Pend Oreille](_blank)
, Northwest Power and Conservation Council
The river was named for a Roman Catholic priest, Father Roothaan.
Course
The Priest River originates in Upper Priest Lake and flows south into
Priest Lake. It exits the south end of Priest Lake and flows south to the Pend Oreille River near the city of
Priest River.
The Upper Priest River, which is sometimes considered part of the Priest River proper, originates near the US-Canada border and flows south into Upper Priest Lake.
Tributaries
The Priest River has three major tributaries. On the left, there is the East River. This river has about twenty tributaries itself, and flows into the Priest about 1 mile from Big Creek.
On the right there is the Upper West Branch of the Priest River, and the Lower West Branch of the Priest River. These never merge. The Lower West Branch is more popular, this has Torelle Falls on it.
List;
* Indian creek
* Lion creek
* Hunt creek
* Soldier creek
* Quartz creek
* Upper west branch Priest River
* Lower west branch Priest River
* East River
* Big creek
* Blue creek
See also
*
List of Idaho rivers
This is a list of rivers in the U.S. state of Idaho.
By drainage basin
This list is arranged by drainage basin, with respective tributaries indented under each larger stream's name.
Pacific Ocean
*''Columbia River (WA)''
**Snake River
***Palouse ...
*
List of longest streams of Idaho
A total of seventy streams that are at least long flow through the U.S. state of Idaho. All of these streams originate in the United States except the Kootenai River (third-longest) and the Moyie River (thirty-first-longest), both of which beg ...
*
Tributaries of the Columbia River
Tributaries and sub-tributaries are hierarchically listed in order from the mouth of the Columbia River upstream. Major dams and reservoir lakes are also noted.
List of major tributaries
The main river and tributaries are (sorted in order from ...
References
Rivers of Idaho
Tributaries of the Columbia River
Rivers of Bonner County, Idaho
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