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 basin, 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 rises in northeastern Humboldt County, on the west side of the

Santa Rosa Range The Santa Rosa Range is a mountain range in Humboldt County, Nevada, United States. Most of the range is included within the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. The highest peaks in the range are Granite Peak (9732 feet, 2966 m) and Santa Rosa Pe ...

, 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 The Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe is a Federally recognized tribes, federally recognized tribe of Northern Paiute people, Northern Paiute and Western Shoshone peoples, whose reservation Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribes of the ...

and then south and southwest, receiving the Kings River flowing south from

Kings River Valley Kings or King's may refer to: *Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh'' ...

. 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 Reservati ...

Massacre Lake Massacre Lake is a lake in the northwest of the U.S. state of Nevada. It was named in commemoration of a supposed 1850 massacre of a party of pioneers. However, a later study suggested that the supposed massacre never took place, due to it being ab ...

, and

Thousand Creek 1000 or one thousand is the natural number following 999 and preceding 1001. In most English-speaking countries, it can be written with or without a comma or sometimes a period separating the thousands digit: 1,000. A group of one thousand t ...

/Virgin Valley watersheds of northwestern Nevada as well as small parts across the borders of

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

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.

References

{{authority control Rivers of Nevada Rivers of Humboldt County, Nevada Rivers of Malheur County, Oregon Rivers of the Great Basin

Catchment

Quinn River Sink

See also

References