The Dungeness River is a long river located in the

Olympic Peninsula The Olympic Peninsula is a large arm of land in western Washington that lies across Puget Sound from Seattle, and contains Olympic National Park. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, the north by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, a ...

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 ...

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 ...

. It rises near Mount Constance in the

Olympic Mountains The Olympic Mountains are a mountain range on the Olympic Peninsula of the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are not especially high – Mount Olympus is the highest at ; however, the easte ...

within the

Olympic National Park Olympic National Park is a United States national park located in the State of Washington, on the Olympic Peninsula. The park has four regions: the Pacific coastline, alpine areas, the west-side temperate rainforest, and the forests of the drier ...

, flows through the Buckhorn Wilderness, passes by the town of

Sequim Sequim ( ) is a city in Clallam County, Washington, United States. It is located along the Dungeness River near the base of the Olympic Mountains. The 2010 census counted a population of 6,606. Sequim lies within the rain shadow of the Olympic M ...

, and empties into the

Strait of Juan de Fuca The Strait of Juan de Fuca (officially named Juan de Fuca Strait in Canada) is a body of water about long that is the Salish Sea's outlet to the Pacific Ocean. The international boundary between Canada and the United States runs down the centre ...

at Dungeness Bay, behind the

Dungeness Spit Dungeness Spit is a sand spit jutting out approximately from the northern edge of the Olympic Peninsula in northeastern Clallam County, Washington into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It is the longest natural sand spit in the United States. The sp ...

. One of its main tributaries is the Gray Wolf River. It is crossed by the Dungeness River Bridge. The river was named for Dungeness Spit. The name "Dungeness" refers to the Dungeness headland in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. It was given by

George Vancouver Captain George Vancouver (22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a British Royal Navy officer best known for his 1791–1795 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of what are ...

in 1792, who wrote: ''The low sandy point of land, which from its great resemblance to Dungeness in the British Channel, I called New Dungeness.'' Scarborough Island is a small eyot (river island) in the Dungeness River, in

Sequim, Washington Sequim ( ) is a city in Clallam County, Washington, United States. It is located along the Dungeness River near the base of the Olympic Mountains. The 2010 census counted a population of 6,606. Sequim lies within the rain shadow of the Olympic ...

. About one acre square, it is located near Dungeness Meadows and can be seen from the Dungeness River Dike.

References

Rivers of Washington (state) Rivers of Clallam County, Washington Rivers of Jefferson County, Washington {{Washington-river-stub

See also

References