South Fork Humboldt River
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The South Fork Humboldt River is a river in Elko County,
Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...
, United States.


Description

left, South Fork Canyon, looking south The river originates in a fan-shaped group of canyons draining the western slopes of the
Ruby Mountains The Ruby Mountains are a mountain range, primarily located within Elko County with a small extension into White Pine County, in Nevada, United States. Most of the range is included within the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. The range reache ...
in northeastern Nevada. These headwaters run from
Ruby Dome Ruby Dome is the highest mountain in both the Ruby Mountains and Elko County, in Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to ...
south to King Peak and include Echo, Box, Kleckner, North Furlong, Long, Segunda, Drown, and Rattlesnake Canyons. Streams draining these canyons exit the mountains and converge at an elevation of , near the town of Lee and within the tribal lands of the Te-Moak tribe of the South Fork Band of the Western Shoshone. Continuing its northwest course, the river merges with the flow of Huntington Creek, passes through the historic area of Twin Bridges, and then enters the more recent South Fork Reservoir, State Park, and
South Fork Dam The South Fork Dam was an earthenwork dam forming Lake Conemaugh (formerly Western Reservoir, also known as the Old Reservoir and Three Mile Dam, a misnomer), an artificial body of water near South Fork, Pennsylvania, United States. On May 31, 1 ...
dating from 1988. It then passes through South Fork Canyon, which merges with Tenmile and Dixie creeks' flows. It was here that, on September 25, 1846, the
Donner Party The Donner Party, sometimes called the Donner–Reed Party, was a group of American pioneers who migrated to California in a wagon train from the Midwest. Delayed by a multitude of mishaps, they spent the winter of 1846–1847 snowbound in th ...
wagon train completed the segment of their journey on the
Hastings Cutoff The Hastings Cutoff was an alternative route for westward emigrants to travel to California, as proposed by Lansford Hastings in ''The Emigrant's Guide to Oregon and California''. The ill-fated Donner Party infamously took the route in 1846. De ...
, and rejoined the original California Trail. After an estimated total of , the South Fork flows into the main branch of the
Humboldt River The Humboldt River is an extensive river drainage system located in north-central Nevada. It extends in a general east-to-west direction from its headwaters in the Jarbidge, Independence, and Ruby Mountains in Elko County, to its terminus in th ...
at approximately and at an elevation of , about southwest of the city of Elko.


See also

* List of rivers in Nevada


References


External links

Tributaries of the Humboldt River Rivers of Elko County, Nevada Rivers of Nevada Rivers of the Great Basin {{Nevada-river-stub