The Siltcoos River is a stream on the central coast of the U.S. state of

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 ...

. It begins at

Siltcoos Lake Siltcoos Lake (silt’-koos), at , is the largest lake on the Oregon Coast of the United States. Fed by runoff from a basin of about in Douglas and Lane counties, it is about south of Florence and east of U.S. Route 101. Its name comes from a L ...

, which straddles the border between

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civi ...

and

Lane In road transport, a lane is part of a roadway that is designated to be used by a single line of vehicles to control and guide drivers and reduce traffic conflicts. Most public roads (highways) have at least two lanes, one for traffic in each ...

counties. The river meanders generally west to the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

. It is located about south of

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

and north of

Reedsport Reedsport is a city in Douglas County, Oregon, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,310. History Reedsport was established on the estuary of the Umpqua River on January 7, 1852. It was named for a local settler, Alfred ...

. The river, losing little elevation between source and mouth, passes through the Westlake section of Dunes City, under

U.S. Route 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, on the West Coast of the United States. It is also known as (The Royal Roa ...

, and through a marshy area and sand dunes of

Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area The Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area is located on the Oregon Coast, stretching approximately north of the Coos River in North Bend to the Siuslaw River in Florence, and adjoining Honeyman State Park on the west. It is part of Siuslaw Na ...

, which is within

Siuslaw National Forest The Siuslaw National Forest ( ) is a national forest in western Oregon in the United States. Established in 1908, the Siuslaw is made up of a wide variety of ecosystems, ranging from coastal forests to sand dunes. Geography The Siuslaw Nati ...

Recreation

The river's relative flatness makes it suitable for canoeing in either direction, although the lower end has no boat launch and the beach nearby is closed between March 15 and September 15 to protect

snowy plover The snowy plover (''Charadrius nivosus'') is a small wader in the plover bird family, typically about 5-7" in length. It breeds in the southern and western United States, the Caribbean, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile. Long considered to be a subspecie ...

nesting areas. Campgrounds along or near the river include Tyee, on the east side of U.S. Route 101, as well as Waxmyrtle, Lagoon, and Driftwood on the west side. Tyee and the Lodgepole picnic area near the lake have canoe launch points; a small dam just west of Route 101 requires a

portage Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...

. Trails wind through areas near the river. A self-guided nature trail follows an oxbow bend in the river near Lagoon campground. A trail meanders along the river from Waxmyrtle campground to the beach, and a loop trail connects primitive campgrounds near Siltcoos Lake. The Siltcoos Lake Trail, with a trailhead east of U.S. Route 101 about south of Florence, is frequented by mountain bikers. Fishing for

coho salmon The coho salmon (''Oncorhynchus kisutch;'' Karuk: achvuun) is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family (biology), family and one of the five Pacific salmon species. Coho salmon are also known as silver salmon or "silvers". The scientif ...

coastal cutthroat trout The coastal cutthroat trout (''Oncorhynchus clarkii clarkii''), also known as the sea-run cutthroat trout, blue-back trout or harvest trout, is one of the several subspecies of cutthroat trout found in Western North America. The coastal cutthroa ...

, and

largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus salmoides'') is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae ( sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, but ...

is allowed in the upstream stretch of the river between the lake and U.S. Route 101. Anglers fish from stream banks or from boats. There is a public boat ramp north of Westlake.

References

External links

* {{authority control Rivers of Oregon Rivers of Lane County, Oregon Rivers of Douglas County, Oregon

Recreation

See also

References

External links