The South Fork Rogue River is a tributary of the Rogue River in the

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Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. Rising in the Sky Lakes Wilderness in the

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, it flows generally northeast through the

Rogue River – Siskiyou National Forest A rogue is a person or entity that flouts accepted norms of behavior or strikes out on an independent and possibly destructive path. Rogue, rogues, or going rogue may also refer to: Companies * Rogue Ales, a microbrewery in Newport, Oregon * ...

to meet the Rogue River downstream of Prospect and slightly upstream of

Lost Creek Lake Lost Creek Lake is a reservoir located on the Rogue River (Oregon), Rogue River in Jackson County, Oregon, Jackson County, Oregon, United States. The lake is impounded by William L. Jess Dam which was constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engi ...

Course

The river begins in Klamath County in the Sky Lakes Wilderness of the Cascade Range. It flows north from Horseshoe Lake for about before turning northeast and entering Jackson County, leaving the wilderness area and entering the Rogue River–Siskiyou National Forest. Over its next , the river flows under Forest Road 37 at Upper South Fork Bridge, passes Upper South Fork Campground and receives Parker Creek from the

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near Parker Meadows Campground, then Little Billie, Wickiup, and Sam creeks from the

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. Below this, it receives Big Ben Creek from the right. The river then flows under Lower South Fork Bridge, which carries Forest Road 37, and by South Fork Campground, which is on the left. Below the bridge, the river receives Nichols and Green creeks from the right and Lodgepole Creek from the left. Imnaha Creek enters from the right at about

river mile A river mile is a measure of distance in miles along a river from its river mouth, mouth. River mile numbers begin at zero and increase further upstream. The corresponding metric unit using kilometre, kilometers is the river kilometer. They are an ...

(RM) 10.5 or river kilometer (RK) 16.9 just above the South Fork

diversion dam A diversion dam is a dam that diverts all or a portion of the flow of a river from its natural course. Diversion dams do not generally impound water in a reservoir; instead, the water is diverted into an artificial water course or canal, which ...

. Turning west below the dam, the South Fork flows by a

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(USGS)

stream gauge A stream gauge, streamgage or stream gauging station is a location used by hydrologists or environmental scientists to monitor and test terrestrial bodies of water. Hydrometric measurements of water level surface elevation (" stage") and/or v ...

, which is on the left at RM 10.2 (RK 16.4). Buck Creek enters from the left about from the mouth, and the

Middle Fork Rogue River The Middle Fork Rogue River is a tributary of the South Fork Rogue River in the U.S. state of Oregon. It begins in Klamath County, Oregon, Klamath County in the Sky Lakes Wilderness of the Cascade Range and flows generally northwest through the R ...

enters from the right shortly thereafter. About further downstream, Beaver Dam Creek enters from the left, and Smith Creek enters from the left about later. The South Fork meets the Rogue River

main stem In hydrology, a main stem or mainstem (also known as a trunk) is "the primary downstream segment of a river, as contrasted to its tributaries". The mainstem extends all the way from one specific headwater to the outlet of the river, although t ...

near the head of

and about from the larger river's

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on the Pacific Ocean.

Recreation

The river, lightly fished on its upper reaches, supports wild

rainbow A rainbow is an optical phenomenon caused by refraction, internal reflection and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a continuous spectrum of light appearing in the sky. The rainbow takes the form of a multicoloured circular ...

, coastal cutthroat, and

brook trout The brook trout (''Salvelinus fontinalis'') is a species of freshwater fish in the char genus ''Salvelinus'' of the salmon family Salmonidae native to Eastern North America in the United States and Canada. Two ecological forms of brook trout h ...

. Campgrounds near or along the river include those at

Joseph H. Stewart State Recreation Area Joseph H. Stewart State Recreation Area is a state park located on the Rogue River (Oregon), Rogue River approximately from Crater Lake National Park and northeast of Medford, Oregon, Medford in Jackson County, Oregon, Jackson County, souther ...

, Imnaha, South Fork, Parker Meadows, and Upper South Fork. Hiking trails include Upper South Fork Trail 986, a primitive trail through South Fork Canyon near the headwaters to near Upper South Fork Bridge and Forest Road 37; Middle South Fork Trail, an easy trail between the upper and lower South Fork bridges, and Lower South Fork Trail, an easy trail between Lower South Fork Bridge and Imnaha Creek.

Whitewater Whitewater forms in the context of rapids, in particular, when a river's Stream gradient, gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that foam, froths, making t ...

boating of the highest difficulty, Class 5, is possible at times on the Middle Fork Rogue River and on the South Fork below its confluence with the Middle Fork. The gorge through which this part of the Middle and South forks flow is sometimes impassable because of

log jam A log jam is a naturally occurring phenomenon characterized by a dense accumulation of tree trunks and pieces of large wood across a vast section of a river, stream, or lake. ("Large wood" is commonly defined to be pieces of wood more than in di ...

s. The entire run, including the gorge, requires scouting and expert ability, and "is no place for the faint of heart or the claustrophobic". Below the gorge, the South Fork is class 3 to the mouth.

References

External links

Rogue Basin Watershed councils
{{authority control Rogue River (Oregon) Rivers of Oregon Rivers of Jackson County, Oregon

Course

Recreation

See also

References

External links