The Middle Fork Feather River is a major river in Plumas and

Butte In geomorphology, a butte ( ) is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and table (landform), tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from the French l ...

Counties 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 ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Nearly long, it drains about of the rugged northern

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

range.

Geography

Its headwaters are located near Beckwourth in the largest alpine basin in the Sierra Nevada, the

Sierra Valley Sierra Valley is a large mountain valley located east of the crest of California's Sierra Nevada mountain range in Plumas and Sierra Counties, north of Interstate 80. Geography An intermontane valley at approximately elevation, Sierra Va ...

. The convergence of several streams there creates the Sierra Valley Channels, the largest of which is Little Last Chance Creek, flowing out of Frenchman Lake across the northeast side of the valley. Flowing west, it is joined by Big Grizzly Creek, with waters from Lake Davis. The river continues west, passing Portola and turning northwest at

Clio In Greek mythology, Clio ( , ; ), also spelled Kleio, Сleio, or Cleo, is the muse of history, or in a few mythological accounts, the muse of lyre-playing. Etymology Clio's name is derived from the Greek root κλέω/κλείω (meaning ...

, where it is joined by Sulphur Creek. In the area of Graeagle, It is joined by Frazier Creek, flowing out of Gold Lake, then Gray Eagle Creek, flowing out of Long Lake. After flowing through the Mohawk Valley, it then turns westwards into a canyon. Jamison Creek and Nelson Creek enter from the left, then Onion Valley Creek a few miles onward. Bear Creek, Willow Creek and the North Fork Middle Fork Feather River all come in from the right as the river courses west-southwest through a tight, steep canyon strewn with rapids. It is then joined by the South Branch Middle Fork Feather River from the left. As the river widens into an arm of

Lake Oroville Lake Oroville is a reservoir formed by the Oroville Dam impounding the Feather River, located in Butte County, California, Butte County, northern California. The lake is situated northeast of the city of Oroville, California, Oroville, within th ...

, a reservoir formed by the

Oroville Dam Oroville Dam is an earthfill embankment dam on the Feather River east of the city of Oroville, California, in the Sierra Nevada foothills east of the Sacramento Valley. At 770 feet (235 m) high, it is the tallest dam in the U.S. and serv ...

, the Fall River joins from the left. The reservoir is fed by the

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

, Middle, West and South Forks of the Feather River, which once joined in the valley to form the main Feather River. That river continues southwards to join the

Sacramento River The Sacramento River () is the principal river of Northern California in the United States and is the largest river in California. Rising in the Klamath Mountains, the river flows south for before reaching the Sacramento–San Joaquin River D ...

near the

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

of Plumas Landing. One of the Middle Fork Feather's tributaries, the Fall River, feeds the Feather Falls.

Wild and Scenic River

The Middle Fork is recognized by the US Government for its untamed beauty and is designated a

National Wild and Scenic River The National Wild and Scenic Rivers System was created by the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 (Public Law 90-542), enacted by the U.S. Congress to preserve certain rivers with outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values in a free-f ...

for 77.6 miles of its length. The 32.9 mile stretch inaccessible to roads is home to some of the best wild trout fishing in California.

Grizzly Valley

The Grizzly Valley is a landform of the upper Middle Fork Feather watershed that receives 29-37 inches of annual precipitation. The valley is the location of Lake Davis, an impoundment of Big Grizzly Creek by the 1967 Grizzly Valley Dam.

References

{{Authority control Tributaries of the Feather River Rivers of Plumas County, California Rivers of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Feather Headwaters Plumas National Forest Rivers of Northern California Rivers of the Sierra Nevada in California