Nehalem River
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The Nehalem River is a river on the Pacific coast of northwest Oregon in the United States, approximately 115 mi (180 km) long. It drains part of the Coast Ranges northwest of Portland, originating on the east side of the mountains and flowing in a loop around the north end of the range near the mouth Columbia River. Its watershed of 855 sq mi (2223 sq km) includes an important timber-producing region of Oregon that was the site of the Tillamook Burn. In its upper reaches it flows through long narrow valley of small mountain communities but is unpopulated along most of its lower reaches inland from the coast.
It rises in the northeast corner of Tillamook County, in the Tillamook State Forest. It initially flows northeast, across the northwest corner of Washington County and into western Columbia County, past Vernonia and Pittsburg. At Pittsburg, it looks to the northwest and west into Clatsop County, then flows southwest back into northern Tillamook County. It enters Nehalem Bay on the Pacific in an estuary at Nehalem, approximately 70 mi (120 km) WNW of Portland. The river is crossed by U.S. Highway 101 at its mouth on the Pacific.
It receives the Salmonberry River from the east in northern Tillamook County. It receives the North Fork Nehalem River (25 mi/40 km) from the north approximately 2 mi (3 km) northwest of Nehalem, just before entering Nehalem Bay.
External links
- Nehalem River Watershed Assessment (http://web.pdx.edu/~maserj/project/project1/acrobat/1intro.pdf) (PDF)
- Nehalem Valley History (http://www.nehalemtel.net/community/community_history.htm)
- Oregon Coast Atlas: Nehalem River Estuary (http://www.coastalatlas.net/learn/settings/estuary/estuary.asp?es=3)