The Big Wood River is a
[U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. , accessed May 4, 2011] river
A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...
in central
Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...
, United States, that is a
tributary
A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''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 into which they ...
of the
Malad River (which in turn is a tributary to the
Snake River
The Snake River is a major river in the interior Pacific Northwest region of the United States. About long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, which is the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. Begin ...
and
Columbia River
The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...
).
Course
From its source in the
Sawtooth Range near
Galena Summit in the
Sawtooth National Recreation Area, the Big Wood River generally flows south between the
Boulder Mountains to the north,
Pioneer Mountains to the east, and the
Smoky Mountains
The Great Smoky Mountains (, ''Equa Dutsusdu Dodalv'') are a mountain range rising along the Tennessee–North Carolina border in the southeastern United States. They are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains, ...
to the west.
Highway 75 accompanies the river southward from
Galena Summit, to an area north of
Shoshone
The Shoshone or Shoshoni ( or ), also known by the endonym Newe, are an Native Americans in the United States, Indigenous people of the United States with four large cultural/linguistic divisions:
* Eastern Shoshone: Wyoming
* Northern Shoshon ...
. Here, it carved
Black Magic Canyon.
The river flows by
Sun Valley and
Ketchum, where it receives the tributary streams of Warm Springs Creek and Trail Creek. Below Ketchum, it is joined by the East Fork Wood River at
Gimlet before passing by the small cities of
Hailey and
Bellevue. Continuing south, the river enters the
Wood River Valley, the northern part of
Magic Valley, after which it flows into
Magic Reservoir. A tributary stream,
Camas Creek, joins the river in Magic Reservoir.
Below
Magic Dam, the Big Wood River enters
Lincoln County, passing by many lava beds and irrigation canals before entering
Gooding County. Just west of
Gooding, the Big Wood River joins the
Little Wood River to form the
Malad River.
Big Wood River's water flow is affected by numerous irrigation reservoirs and canals on the river itself and its tributaries.
Variant names of the Big Wood River, according to the USGS, include Malad River, Malade River, Wood River, Poisonous Beaver River, and Sickley River.
See also
*
List of Idaho rivers
*
List of longest streams of Idaho
Notes
References
External links
{{authority control
Rivers of Idaho
Rivers of Blaine County, Idaho
Rivers of Lincoln County, Idaho
Rivers of Gooding County, Idaho
Tributaries of the Snake River
Sawtooth National Forest
Bellevue, Idaho