The Lyre River in the U.S. state of

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 ...

flows out of

Lake Crescent Lake Crescent is a deep lake located entirely within Olympic National Park in Clallam County, Washington, United States, approximately west of Port Angeles on U.S. Route 101 and nearby to the small community of Piedmont. At an official maxim ...

in 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 ...

and 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 ...

. Originally referred to as "singing waters" by the indians living near it, the river was first named Rio de Cuesta by Europeans in 1790 by

Gonzalo López de Haro Gonzalo López de Haro (bef. 1788 in Puebla – 1823) was a Spanish explorer, notable for his expeditions in the Pacific Northwest in the late 18th century. Background In 1788 two ships were sent north to investigate Russian activity in Alaska ...

, but was later called River Lyre after being charted by Captain

Henry Kellett Vice Admiral Sir Henry Kellett, (2 November 1806 – 1 March 1875) was a British naval officer and explorer. Career Born at Clonacody in Tipperary County, Ireland, on 2 November 1806, Kellett joined the Royal Navy in 1822. He spent three yea ...

in 1847.

Course

The Lyre River flows roughly northwest out of Lake Crescent, first encountering June Creek, then turning north at the point that is joined by Boundary Creek on the left. At

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

2.7 () the river tumbles down the Lyre River Falls, which are impassable to fish migrating upstream. Continuing north, the river is joined by Susie Creek on the left, and finally Nelson Creek on the right before emptying into the

at Low Point.

Ecology

The first few hundred feet of the river as it flows out of the lake provide spawning habitat for the

Beardslee trout The Beardslee trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus'' f. ''beardsleei''), formerly ''Salmo gairdneri beardsleei'') is a local form of rainbow trout endemic to Lake Crescent in Washington. Some sources treat them as a subspecies. Known to locals a ...

(''Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus f. beardsleei''), which is found nowhere else. Below the falls that are upriver from the mouth, the river supports stocks of

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 ...

, as well as winter and summer

steelhead Steelhead, or occasionally steelhead trout, is the common name of the anadromous form of the coastal rainbow trout or redband trout (O. m. gairdneri). Steelhead are native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific basin in Northeast Asia and N ...

History

The

Makah The Makah (; Klallam: ''màq̓áʔa'')Renker, Ann M., and Gunther, Erna (1990). "Makah". In "Northwest Coast", ed. Wayne Suttles. Vol. 7 of ''Handbook of North American Indians'', ed. William C. Sturtevant. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institut ...

tribe considered the Lyre to be their eastern boundary, though members of the Elwha

Klallam Klallam (also Clallam, although the spelling with "K" is preferred in all four modern Klallam communities) refers to four related indigenous Native American/First Nations communities from the Pacific Northwest of North America. The Klallam cult ...

tribe had settlements along the river as well, including the fishing village of Kwahamish. By the early 1890s, John Smith had taken up a claim at

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

; John Hanson and his wife Mary Laeger Hanson had homesteaded near the head of the Lyre River. From 1889 through the 1920s, there was a settlement named Gettysburg on the east side of the mouth of the river. Gettysburg was founded as a logging town by Robert Getty and had a population of 65 in 1910. It also had a post office.Clallam County Historical Society. ''Clallam County''. Arcadia Publishing, 2003. p. 83 The Lyre River Campground is administered by the

Washington Department of Natural Resources The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) manages over of forest, range, agricultural, and commercial lands in the U.S. state of Washington. The DNR also manages of aquatic areas which include shorelines, tidelands, lands und ...

near the mouth of the river.

References

{{authority control Rivers of Washington (state) Rivers of Clallam County, Washington Landforms of Olympic National Park

Course

Ecology

History

See also

References