The Snohomish River is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

Snohomish County Snohomish County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. With a population of 827,957 as of the 2020 census, it is the third-most populous county in Washington, after nearby King and Pierce counties, and the 75th-most populous ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, formed by the confluence of the

Skykomish Skykomish is a town in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 198 as of the 2010 census, down from an estimated peak of "several thousand" in the 1920s. Located in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, 49 miles east ...

and Snoqualmie rivers near Monroe. It flows northwest entering

Port Gardner Bay Port Gardner, also known as Port Gardner Bay, is an inlet of Possession Sound on which the city of Everett, Washington is located. The Snohomish River flows into the north end of the bay. It was named by George Vancouver for his patron and former ...

, part of

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 ...

, between Everett and Marysville. The

Pilchuck River The Pilchuck River ( lut, dxʷkʷiƛ̕əb) is a river in Snohomish County in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a tributary of the Snohomish River. The name is derived from Chinook Jargon ''pilpil'' ("blood", "red") and ''chuck'' ("water"), or " ...

is its main tributary and joins the river at Snohomish. The river system drains the west side of the

Cascade Mountains 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, ...

from

Snoqualmie Pass Snoqualmie Pass is a mountain pass that carries Interstate 90 (I-90) through the Cascade Range in the U.S. state of Washington. The pass summit is at an elevation of , on the county line between Kittitas County and King County. Snoqualmie ...

to north of

Stevens Pass Stevens Pass (elevation ) is a mountain pass through the Cascade Range, Cascade Mountains located at the border of King County, Washington, King County and Chelan County, Washington, Chelan County in Washington (state), Washington, United States. ...

. Measured at Monroe, the Snohomish River has an average annual flow of . In comparison, 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 ...

, Washington's largest river, has an average flow of about . Snohomish River Highway 9 Bridge

Course

The Snohomish River forms at the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...

of the Snoqualmie and

Rivers just west of Monroe. Both of these rivers originate in the Cascades and drain the west slopes of the mountains in southeastern

and northeastern King County. The Snohomish River flows generally northwestward from the confluence, passing under state route 522 and flowing alongside Lord Hill Regional Park before reaching downtown Snohomish. Here, it is joined by the

, its main tributary, and flows under state route 9. From Snohomish, the river continues northwestward through a broad floodplain, forming the eastern boundary of the city of Everett. The final few miles of the river in Everett form the Snohomish River estuary, a

river delta A river delta is a landform shaped like a triangle, created by deposition (geology), deposition of sediment that is carried by a river and enters slower-moving or stagnant water. This occurs where a river enters an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, res ...

that features wetlands and tideflats spread out across various islands and arms of the river. Several bridges carry U.S. 2,

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 ...

, and state route 529 across the delta. The river then empties into Possession Sound, which is part of Puget Sound, between Everett and Marysville.

References

External links

* Rivers of Washington (state) Rivers of Snohomish County, Washington {{Washington-river-stub

Course

See also

References

External links