The Applegate River is a -long

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...

of the Rogue River 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 sove ...

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

. It drains approximately . Rising in northern

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, it soon crosses the border and flows northeast then northwest to meet the Rogue about west of

Grants Pass Grants Pass is the county seat of Josephine County, Oregon, United States. The city is located on Interstate 5 in Oregon, Interstate 5, northwest of Medford, Oregon, Medford, along the Rogue River (Oregon), Rogue River. The population was 39,189 ...

. It drains forested foothills of the

Siskiyou Mountains The Siskiyou Mountains are a coastal subrange of the Klamath Mountains, and located in northwestern California and southwestern Oregon in the United States. They extend in an arc for approximately from east of Crescent City, California, northea ...

along the Oregon–California border.

Course

The Applegate River's

headwaters The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source. Definition The ...

are located in the

in California, part of the

Rogue River–Siskiyou National Forest The Rogue River–Siskiyou National Forest is a United States National Forest in the U.S. states of Oregon and California. The formerly separate Rogue River and Siskiyou National Forests were administratively combined in 2004. Now, the Rogue R ...

. The water collects from

snowmelt In hydrology, snowmelt is surface runoff produced from melting snow. It can also be used to describe the period or season during which such runoff is produced. Water produced by snowmelt is an important part of the annual water cycle in many par ...

and springs. The Siskiyou area receives from of

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...

annually. The river then flows north through a steep canyon past the Oregon-California border, receiving water from Elliot Creek. Elliot Creek begins near

Dutchman Peak Dutchman Peak is a summit in the U.S. state of Oregon. The elevation is . The word "Dutchman" does not refer to the Dutch people or Dutch language, but to the original German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (histo ...

in Oregon, before flowing southwest into California, roughly paralleling the border. It joins the Applegate just before it enters Oregon. This area saw major floods in

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

and 1974, before the Applegate Dam was constructed. The river is impounded by Applegate Dam several miles into Oregon, forming the Applegate Lake. The

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

began construction of the dam in 1974, and it was completed in 1980. The lake nearly extends to California. The purpose of the lake is to provide

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...

and

flood control Flood control methods are used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters."Flood Control", MSN Encarta, 2008 (see below: Further reading). Flood relief methods are used to reduce the effects of flood waters or high water level ...

for the Applegate Valley. The community of

Copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

was inundated by the rising waters of the lake, and is now over below lake level. From Applegate Dam, the river flows north and slightly east. About from California, it flows under the McKee Bridge. The

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 ...

was built in 1917 for miners and

loggers Lumberjacks are mostly North American workers in the logging industry who perform the initial harvesting and transport of trees for ultimate processing into forest products. The term usually refers to loggers in the era (before 1945 in the Unite ...

. It was closed in 1956, deemed unsafe for motor vehicles. Restored in 1965 and 1985, the bridge is now open for pedestrians. Several miles past McKee Bridge is the confluence with the Little Applegate River. Near Ruch, the Applegate turns and flows northwest through the

unincorporated communities An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

of Applegate and Provolt. Near Provolt it passes from Jackson County to Josephine County. Tributaries in this area include Thompson Creek and Williams Creek, and both flow north. Williams Creek was named after Captain Robert Williams, who fought the Rogue River Indians along the creek during the Rogue River Wars. It flows through Williams, also named for the captain. From Williams Creek the Applegate turns west and flows through Murphy. It then turns north through Wilderville. The river empties into the Rogue River west of

, just above the start of the Wild and Scenic section of the Rogue. It discharges an average of , however as high as was recorded in 1953, and as low as was recorded in 1979, when Applegate Lake was being filled.

Watershed

The Applegate River drains approximately . Approximately 35 percent of the watershed is owned by the

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency in ...

(as part of the

), and another 35 percent by the Bureau of Land Management. Private

property Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, r ...

covers 20 percent, while the remaining 10 percent is commercial forests. About 12,000 people live in the river's watershed in multiple

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

s and

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used ...

s, although none of the towns are incorporated.

Flora and fauna

The most common trees within the Applegate River's watershed include Douglas fir and

madrone ''Arbutus'' is a genus of 12 accepted speciesAct. Bot. Mex no.99 Pátzcuaro abr. 2012.''Arbutus bicolor''/ref> of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae, native to warm temperate regions of the Mediterranean, western Europe, the Canary Islan ...

Oregon white oak ''Quercus garryana'' is an oak tree species of the Pacific Northwest, with a range stretching from southern California to southwestern British Columbia. It is commonly known as the Oregon white oak or Oregon oak or, in Canada, the Garry oak. It ...

and big-leaf maple grow in the loam soil found on the higher slopes. Shrubs such as vine maple and

manzanita Manzanita is a common name for many species of the genus ''Arctostaphylos''. They are evergreen shrubs or small trees present in the chaparral biome of western North America, where they occur from Southern British Columbia and Washington to Or ...

grow beneath the trees. Animals that live along the Applegate River include the

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and in ...

Siskiyou Mountains salamander, and the

near threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify f ...

spotted owl The spotted owl (''Strix occidentalis'') is a species of true owl. It is a resident species of old-growth forests in western North America, where it nests in tree hollows, old bird of prey nests, or rock crevices. Nests can be between high a ...

References

External links

USGS 2005 statistics on the Applegate River
(PDF)
Applegate River Watershed Council
* {{authority control Rivers of Northern California Rivers of Oregon Rogue River (Oregon) Rivers of Siskiyou County, California Rivers of Jackson County, Oregon Rivers of Josephine County, Oregon

Course

Watershed

Flora and fauna

See also

References

External links