The Clallam River is a river 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 so ...
of
Washington
Washington most commonly refers to:
* George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States
* Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A ...
. The river is over long.
Nearby and similar rivers include the
Pysht River and
Hoko River
The Hoko River is a river in the U.S. state of Washington (U.S. state), Washington. It originates in the foothills of the Olympic Mountains, and runs about to the Pacific Ocean through a rugged landscape that has been heavily Logging, logged. I ...
.
Course
The Clallam River originates 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 (Washington), Mount Olympus is the high ...
near Ellis Mountain. It flows generally north collecting tributaries such as Blowder Creek, Charley Creek, Last Creek, and Pearson Creek before emptying into Clallam Bay, part of 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 main outlet to the Pacific Ocean. The Canada–United States border, international boundary between Canada and the ...
. The community of
Clallam Bay is located at the river's mouth.
Natural history
The Clallam River supports populations of
coho COHO, short for Coherent Oscillator, is a technique used with radar systems based on the cavity magnetron to allow them to implement a moving target indicator display. Because the signals are only coherent when received, not transmitted, the concept ...
,
chum, and
Chinook salmon
The Chinook salmon (''Oncorhynchus tshawytscha'') is the largest and most valuable species of Oncorhynchus, Pacific salmon. Its common name is derived from the Chinookan peoples. Other vernacular names for the species include king salmon, quinn ...
as well as
steelhead
Steelhead, or occasionally steelhead trout, is the Fish migration#Classification, anadromous form of the coastal rainbow trout or Columbia River redband trout (''O. m. gairdneri'', also called redband steelhead). Steelhead are native to cold-wa ...
and
coastal cutthroat trout
The coastal cutthroat trout (''Oncorhynchus clarkii'', sometimes referred as ''Oncorhynchus clarkii clarkii''), also known as the sea-run cutthroat trout, blue-back trout or harvest trout, is one of the four speciesTrotter, Patrick; Bisson, Pete ...
.
[
The Clallam River is unusual in that sands and gravels frequently block the river's mouth. The river's lower course runs parallel to the sea, behind the gravel bars. Over the years the river repeatedly breaks through the barrier in different places, usually during periods of high stream flow. Sometimes migrating fish are trapped behind gravel barriers at the river's mouth. In July 1998 significant numbers of Steelhead trout were trapped in this way. The Pacific Coast Salmon Coalition had a channel cleared through the gravel bar, allowing the fish to escape.]
See also
* List of rivers of Washington (state)
This is a list of rivers in the U.S. state of Washington.
By drainage basin
This list is arranged by drainage basin. Respective tributaries are indented under each larger stream's name and are ordered downstream to upstream.
Strait of Georgia ...
References
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Rivers of Washington (state)
Rivers of Clallam County, Washington