Alsea River
Alsea River Dock
The Alsea River is a 78 km long river on the Pacific coast in western Oregon (USA).
The sometimes tortuous river originates in the Oregon Coast Range and is formed from the confluence of its two source rivers - North Fork and South Fork Alsea River - in the north-western Lane County. The North Fork of the entfließt about 9 km south-west of the 1249 m high Marys Peak located Klickitat Lake ( 355 m above sea level), which is fed by two spring-fed streams. From there it flows to the southeast. The South Fork rises about 34 km north- west of Eugene just north-east of the small settlement Horton and flows from there to the northwest. Even before his wedding river, which is located approximately in the middle of the two source areas of north and south arm, the Alsea River flows through a hilly landscape in the County Benton County and Lincoln County. After flowing through its running in the predominantly westerly direction riverbed its water flows near Waldport in the approximately two by three kilometer Alsea Bay.
The river's name comes from the root of the Alsea First Nations who were also called Alsi or Alseya and settled along the lower reaches and the estuary of the river. The headwaters of the river is an important spawning area for which there are three fish migrations during the year:
- In the late summer of cutthroat trout,
- From late summer to November of the chinook salmon,
- And from December to March the rainbow trout.
Almost along the whole river course - below the confluence of its source arms - is accompanied 34 of the Alsea River from the Oregon State Route. As a recreation area of the river and the landscape that flows through its waters, partly because of its small waterfalls, and its wealth of fish and its mostly steep and densely forested shores are popular.
The main tributaries are the Lobster Creek, the Fall Creek and Drift Creek. The catchment area of the river belongs to the majority of the Siuslaw National Forest and comprises over 1200 km ². In 1890, the highest water level was measured at high water with nine meters.