The Pudding River is a tributary of the

Molalla River The Molalla River is a tributary of the Willamette River in the northwestern part of Oregon in the United States. Flowing northwest from the Cascade Range through Table Rock Wilderness, it passes the city of Molalla, Oregon, Molalla before enteri ...

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 ...

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 ...

. Its drainage basin covers . Among its tributaries are Silver Creek, Butte Creek,

Abiqua Creek Abiqua Creek ( ) is a tributary of the Pudding River in the U.S. state of Oregon. The creek originates near Lookout Mountain in the foothills of the Cascade Range in the northwestern part of the state. It flows northwest for about to its confluen ...

, and the

Little Pudding River The Little Pudding River is a tributary of the Pudding River in Marion County in the U.S. state of Oregon. It begins in the Waldo Hills near Macleay, east of Salem, and flows generally north to meet the larger river west of Mt. Angel. The conf ...

. Historically, the Pudding River flowed directly into the

Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward b ...

, and aerial photos dating back to 1936 provide evidence of the Willamette River's confluence with the Pudding River mainstem channel. Currently, it flows directly into the Molalla River near River Mile 1 before joining the Willamette River. Anadromous and resident salmonids use the Lower Pudding River main stem and key tributaries that support the basin's ecosystems.

Geology

About 24 million years ago at the end of the Oligocene, Oregon had started to look how it is today and the Willamette Bay finally became the Willamette Valley by drying up and being raised above sea level, after assuming a shape much like today's

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected ma ...

Course

The Pudding River Basin's complex of headwater creeks originates from the western edge of the Cascade Mountains along a snowpack-limited

ridgeline A ridge or a mountain ridge is a geographical feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for an extended distance. The sides of the ridge slope away from the narrow top on either side. The line ...

(i.e. no glaciers are present) that forms a critical linkage from the Mount Hood National Forest and

Table Rock Wilderness The Table Rock Wilderness is a small pocket wilderness designated in 1984 in the western Cascade Mountains in northwestern Oregon, United States. The wilderness area protects of forest in the historic Molalla River– Pudding River drainage ...

Silver Falls State Park Silver Falls State Park is a state park in the U.S. state of Oregon, located near Silverton, about east-southeast of Salem. It is the largest state park in Oregon with an area of more than , and it includes more than of walking trails, of h ...

and the rolling

Waldo Hills The Waldo Hills are a range of hills in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, United States. Encompassing an area of around , the hills are located east of Salem.Corning, Howard M. ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing, 1956. The ...

east of Salem. Peak ridgeline elevations vary from . After emerging from the Cascade Mountain foothills of the Panther Rock Ridge and its unique forested upper-elevation wetlands and lakes, the key tributaries of the watershed like ecologically-important Butte Creek converge near Woodburn into the meandering Pudding River. Passing through and within the Pudding River Valley, the numerous subwatersheds of the Pudding Basin represent a vital part of fertile agricultural lands of the Lower

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 eas ...

sub-basin. Two forks of the Pudding join between the cities of Silverton and Mt. Angel, at , as the river continues its course northward where it receives

from the right at about northwest of Silverton. North of Mt. Angel, Butte Creek, which comes down from the Cascade Range foothills past Scotts Mills, empties into the Pudding River at . The river continues northward past the town of

Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

. For most of its course, Butte Creek and the Lower Pudding River mainstem defines the boundary between

Marion Marion may refer to: People *Marion (given name) *Marion (surname) *Marion Silva Fernandes, Brazilian footballer known simply as "Marion" *Marion (singer), Filipino singer-songwriter and pianist Marion Aunor (born 1992) Places Antarctica * Mario ...

and Clackamas Counties. The Pudding River flows into the Molalla River, at , just before the Molalla joins the

in a floodplain that is part of the Molalla River State Park.

Fishing

The upper river offers catch-and-release fishing for wild trout, while the lower river has bass and

panfish The word panfish, also spelled pan-fish or pan fish, is an American English term describing any edible freshwater fish that usually do not outgrow the size of an average frying pan. It is also commonly used by recreational anglers to refer to a ...

. Although the Pudding River is not stocked with hatchery fish, coastal cutthroat trout and rainbow trout enter the upper main stem from Drift, Butte, Silver, and Abiqua creeks. Fishing is restricted to artificial flies and lures and is not allowed for winter-run steelhead (anadromous rainbow trout) that

spawn Spawn or spawning may refer to: * Spawn (biology), the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals Arts, entertainment, and media * Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise ** '' Spawn: ...

in the tributaries. The extreme lower reaches of the river are navigable by boat when the stream flow is sufficient, sometimes as late as June.

References

External links

Pudding River Watershed Council

NOAA hydrology site for the Pudding River at Aurora
*

Oregon Department of Transportation The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) is a department of the state government of the U.S. state of Oregon responsible for systems of transportation. It was first established in 1969. It had been preceded by the Oregon State Highway Depar ...

Photographs: *
Pudding River Bridge at Aurora
*
Covered Bridge over Pudding River near Barlow
*
Covered Bridge over Pudding River in Marion County
{{authority control Rivers of Oregon Rivers of Marion County, Oregon Rivers of Clackamas County, Oregon

Geology

Course

Fishing

See also

References

External links