Olympic Peninsula
The Olympic Peninsula is a large arm of land in western Washington that lies across Puget Sound from Seattle, and contains Olympic National Park. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, the north by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, an ...
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 sove ...
of Washington. It originates in the foothills on the southwest side of 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 is the highest at ; however, the east ...
and empties into the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...
.USGS topographic maps accessed via https://mapper.acme.com The name "Copalis" comes from the
Quinault language
Quinault (''Kʷínaył'') is a member of the Tsamosan (Olympic) branch of the Coast Salish family of Salishan languages
The Salishan (also Salish) languages are a family of languages of the Pacific Northwest in North America (the Canadian p ...
term /k'ʷpíls/. The Copalises are a Native American group. Both the Chehalis people and
Quinault Indian Nation
The Quinault Indian Nation ( or ; QIN), formerly known as the Quinault Tribe of the Quinault Reservation, is a federally recognized tribe of Quinault, Queets, Quileute, Hoh, Chehalis, Chinook, and Cowlitz peoples.
Course
The Copalis River originates in the southwestern portion of the Olympic Peninsula a few miles south of the
Quinault Reservation
The Quinault Indian Nation ( or ; QIN), formerly known as the Quinault Tribe of the Quinault Reservation, is a federally recognized tribe of Quinault, Queets, Quileute, Hoh, Chehalis, Chinook, and Cowlitz peoples.Humptulips River
The Humptulips River is a river in Grays Harbor County, Washington, in the United States. Its main tributaries are the East Fork Humptulips River, about long (32 km), and West Fork Humptulips River, about long (48 km). After the forks ...
. It flows southwest for about to the Pacific Ocean, emptying into the ocean at Copalis Beach in Griffiths-Priday State Park. At its mouth, the river is bordered by the Copalis spit, a small peninsula that serves as refuge for migratory birds.
See also
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List of rivers of Washington
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.
Fraser River (Briti ...