Ritner Creek is a tributary of the

Luckiamute River The Luckiamute River is a tributary of the Willamette River, about long, in western Oregon in the United States. It drains an area of Central Oregon Coast Range and the western Willamette Valley northwest of Corvallis. It rises in the remote mo ...

Polk County Polk County is the name of twelve counties in the United States, all except two named after president of the United States James Knox Polk: * Polk County, Arkansas * Polk County, Florida * Polk County, Georgia * Polk County, Iowa * Polk Count ...

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 sover ...

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 ...

.. The map includes mile markers along the Luckiamute River. The creek begins near Bald Mountain in the

Central Oregon Coast Range The Central Oregon Coast Range is the middle section of the Oregon Coast Range, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region, and located in the west-central portion of the state of Oregon, United States roughly between the Salmon River and t ...

and flows generally southeast to meet the Luckiamute southwest of

Pedee The Pee Dee people, also Pedee and Peedee, are American Indians of the Southeast United States. Historically, their population has been concentrated in the Piedmont of present-day South Carolina. In the 17th and 18th centuries, English colonists ...

and north of Kings Valley. The confluence is upstream of the Luckiamute's

mouth In animal anatomy, the mouth, also known as the oral cavity, or in Latin cavum oris, is the opening through which many animals take in food and issue vocal sounds. It is also the cavity lying at the upper end of the alimentary canal, bounded on ...

on 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 ...

. Named tributaries of Ritner Creek from source to mouth are Sheythe, Love, Clayton, and Kinsey creeks. Ritner Creek passes under

Oregon Route 223 Oregon Route 223 is a state highway in the U.S. State of Oregon, which runs between the town of Wren, Oregon and the city of Dallas, Oregon. It is known as the Kings Valley Highway No. 191 (see Oregon highways and routes) and is long. It lie ...

just before entering the river. The

Ritner Creek Bridge The Ritner Creek Bridge was the last covered bridge on a state highway in Oregon. It carried Oregon Route 223 (OR 223) over Ritner Creek between Pedee and Kings Valley, about south of Dallas, or north of the junction with U.S. Route 2 ...

, a

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 ...

, carried the highway over the creek until 1976. Replaced by a concrete span, it was the last covered bridge on an Oregon state highway.

Name

The creek was named for Sebastian Ritner, who emigrated to Oregon in 1845. His

donation land claim The Donation Land Claim Act of 1850, sometimes known as the Donation Land Act, was a statute enacted by the United States Congress in late 1850, intended to promote homestead settlements in the Oregon Territory. It followed the Distribution-Preem ...

included part of the creek. A railroad station named ''Ritner'' was part of the

Valley and Siletz Railroad The Valley and Siletz Railroad (VS) is a defunct railroad located in Polk and Benton counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. The railroad began construction in 1912. It was long by 1915, long by 1917, and was extended to and completed later tha ...

. It was along the line about north of Kings Valley.

Parks

The covered bridge was saved and moved to an adjacent site that doubles as a small county park, the Minnie Ritner Ruiter Wayside. The park, open all year during daylight hours, has picnic tables and a portable restroom. Further upstream along Gage Road and Ritner Creek is Ritner Creek Park, another county recreation site. Amenities include fire pits, picnic tables, walking trails, and a restroom. This park is also open all year between sunrise and a half-hour after sunset.

References

External links

Luckiamute Watershed Council
{{authority control Rivers of Polk County, Oregon Rivers of Oregon

Name

Parks

See also

References

External links