The South Fork Coos River is a tributary, about long, of the

Coos River The Coos River flows for about into Coos Bay along the Pacific coast of southwest Oregon in the United States. Formed by the confluence of its major tributaries, the South Fork Coos River and the Millicoma River, it drains an important timber- ...

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 ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. Formed by the confluence of the Williams River and Tioga Creek, it begins in eastern Coos County near the Douglas County line and flows generally northwest through the Southern Oregon Coast Range. East of the city of

Coos Bay Coos Bay (Hanis language, Coos language: Atsixiis or Hanisich) is an estuary where the Coos River enters the Pacific Ocean, the estuary is approximately 12 miles long and up to two miles wide. It is the largest estuary completely within Oregon sta ...

, it joins the

Millicoma River __NOTOC__ The Millicoma River is a coast stream, about long, east of Coos Bay in the U.S. state of Oregon. Formed by the confluence of the East Fork Millicoma River and the West Fork Millicoma River at Allegany, it meanders across relatively fla ...

to form the Coos River. This larger river, only about long, empties into the eastern end of

, which connects to the Pacific Ocean.

Course

From its source, the river flows north through forests, receiving Mink Creek from the

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * ''Left'' (Helmet album), 2023 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relativ ...

. About further downstream, the river turns west, and Fall Creek enters from the

right Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of freedom or Entitlement (fair division), entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal sy ...

. Over the next stretch, Coal and Fannin creeks enter from the left and Elk Creek from the right. The river then turns south before Rock Crusher and Burma creeks enter from the left at about

river mile A river mile is a measure of distance in miles along a river from its river mouth, mouth. River mile numbers begin at zero and increase further upstream. The corresponding metric unit using kilometre, kilometers is the river kilometer. They are an ...

(RM) 20 or river kilometer (RK) 32. Turning west, the river receives Cox Creek from the left. After the river turns north again, it receives Big Creek from the right then meanders west, receiving East and West creeks from the right and Salmon Creek from the left at about RM 9 (RK 14). Over the next stretch, McKnight Creek enters from the right before the river reaches the community of Dellwood, which is on the right. Bessey Creek enters from the right and then Rogers Creek from the right about from the

mouth A mouth also referred to as the oral is the body orifice through which many animals ingest food and animal communication#Auditory, vocalize. The body cavity immediately behind the mouth opening, known as the oral cavity (or in Latin), is also t ...

. Morgan Creek enters from the left before the West Fork Coos River passes under Landrith Bridge and South Coos River Lane and meets the Millicoma River. South Coos River Lane runs along the stream to the vicinity of Dellwood, and the rest of the river is accessible by logging roads.

Recreation

The river supports populations of

shad The Alosidae, or the shads, are a family (biology), family of clupeiform fishes. The family currently comprises four genera worldwide, and about 32 species. The shads are Pelagic fish, pelagic (open water) schooling fish, of which many are anadr ...

chinook Chinook may refer to: Chinook peoples The name derives from a settlement of Indigenous people in Oregon and Washington State. * Chinookan peoples, several groups of Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest ** Chinook Indian Nation, an organiza ...

and

coho salmon The coho salmon (''Oncorhynchus kisutch;'' Karuk: achvuun) is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family (biology), family and one of the five Pacific salmon species. Coho salmon are also known as silver salmon (or "silvers") and is often ...

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

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) is a state government, government agency of the U.S. state of Oregon responsible for programs protecting Oregon fish and wildlife resources and their habitats. The agency operates hatcheries, i ...

operates a steelhead

hatchery A hatchery is a facility where eggs are hatched under artificial conditions, especially those of fish, poultry or even turtles. It may be used for ''ex situ'' conservation purposes, i.e. to breed rare or endangered species under controlled ...

near Dellwood. Above Dellwood, the stream is accessible by roads on land owned by

Weyerhauser The Weyerhaeuser Company ( ) is an American timberland company which owns nearly of timberlands in the U.S., and manages an additional of timberlands under long-term licenses in Canada. The company has manufactured wood products for over a c ...

, a timber company, and parking or fishing along the upper river requires a Weyerhouser permit. Below the

head of tide Head of tide, tidal limit or tidehead is the furthest point upstream where a river is affected by tidal fluctuations, or where the fluctuations are less than a certain amount. The river section influenced by tides and marine forces, but without ...

at Dellwood, it is possible to fish from the bank near the mouth of Daniels Creek, and boaters can fish the entire lower river.Sheehan, p. 67

Whitewater Whitewater forms in the context of rapids, in particular, when a river's Stream gradient, gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that foam, froths, making t ...

boaters sometimes run a stretch of the river beginning about upstream of Dellwood. Weyerhauser, which owns the land through which this part of the river flows, restricts boating access to weekends only.Giordano, pp. 70–71

References

Works cited

*Giordano, Pete (2004). ''Soggy Sneakers: A Paddler's Guide to Oregon's Rivers'', 4th ed. Seattle: The Mountaineers Books. . *McArthur, Lewis A., and McArthur, Lewis L. (2003)

928 Year 928 ( CMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * King Rudolph I loses the support of Herbert II, count of Vermandois, who controls the prison at Péronne in which former King ...

''Oregon Geographic Names'', 7th ed. Portland: Oregon Historical Society Press. . *Sheehan, Madelynne Diness (2005). ''Fishing in Oregon: The Complete Oregon Fishing Guide'', 10th ed. Scappoose, Oregon: Flying Pencil Publications. .

External links

Coos Watershed Association
{{authority control Rivers of Coos County, Oregon Rivers of Oregon

Course

Recreation

See also

References

Works cited

External links