The Quinn River, once known as the Queen River, is an
intermittent river
Intermittent, temporary or seasonal rivers or streams cease to flow every year or at least twice every five years.(Tzoraki et al., 2007) Such rivers drain large arid and semi-arid areas, covering approximately a third of the earth's surface. ...
, approximately long, in the desert of northwestern
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, 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. N ...
in the United States. It drains an enclosed basin inside the larger
Great Basin
The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja California. It is noted fo ...
.
It rises in northeastern
Humboldt County, on the west side of the
Santa Rosa Range, just south of the
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 ...
state line. Its course flows southwest, through the main Nevada lands of the
Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribes and then south and southwest, receiving the
Kings River flowing south from
Kings River Valley. The Quinn River evaporates in a sink at the
Black Rock Desert
__NOTOC__
The Black Rock Desert is a semi-arid region (in the Great Basin shrub steppe eco-region) of lava beds and playa, or alkali flats, situated in the Black Rock Desert–High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area, a si ...
approximately northwest of
Winnemucca on the Hog John Ranch of the Fort McDermitt Paiute-Shoshone Tribe.
Catchment
The Quinn River is the largest river in the region, starting in the Santa Rosa Range and ending in the Quinn River Sink on the playa south of the
Black Rock Range
The Black Rock Range is a mountain range in northwestern Nevada. It is named for Black Rock Point, which is located at the southern end of the range. The Black Rock Range divides the Black Rock Desert into eastern and western arms. Pahute Peak ...
. The watershed covers
including the Upper and Lower Quinn River,
Smoke Creek Desert
The Smoke Creek Desert is an arid region of northwestern Nevada, that lies about to the north of Pyramid Lake, west of the Fox Range and east of the Smoke Creek Mountains. The southern end of the desert lies on the Pyramid Lake Indian Reserva ...
,
Massacre Lake, and
Thousand Creek/Virgin Valley watersheds of northwestern Nevada as well as small parts across the borders of
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 ...
and Oregon.
Quinn River Sink
The Quinn River Sink is the mouth of the Quinn River and is a
geographic sink of around , where the Quinn River discharges and evaporates about south-southwest of Black Rock Hot Springs.
See also
*
List of rivers of the Great Basin
References
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Rivers of Nevada
Rivers of Humboldt County, Nevada
Rivers of Malheur County, Oregon
Rivers of the Great Basin