North Fork Payette River

The North Fork Payette River (/peɪˈɛt/) is a river in the western United States in western Idaho. It flows about 113 miles (182 km) southwards from the Salmon River Mountains to near Banks, where it empties into the Payette River, a tributary of the Snake River. It drains a watershed of 912 square miles (2,360 km²), consisting of mountains and forests, and valleys filled with large lakes and wetlands.

North Fork Payette River
Rafters running rapids on the Cabarton section of the North Fork above Smiths Ferry in 2008
Map of the Payette River watershed, including the North Fork
Location
Country	United States
State	Idaho
Region	Valley County, Boise County
Cities	McCall, Cascade, Banks
Physical characteristics
Source	Confluence of Trail Creek and Cloochman Creek
• location	Northwest of Diamond Ridge, Valley County
• coordinates	45°10′47″N 115°59′37″W[1]
• elevation	6,083 ft (1,854 m)
Mouth	Payette River
• location	Banks, Boise County
• coordinates	44°05′06″N 116°06′57″W[1]
• elevation	2,825 ft (861 m)
Length	113 mi (182 km), North-south[2]
Basin size	912 sq mi (2,360 km2)[3]
Discharge
• location	Banks, ID[4]
• average	1,299 cu ft/s (36.8 m3/s)[4]
• minimum	36 cu ft/s (1.0 m3/s)
• maximum	8,830 cu ft/s (250 m3/s)
Basin features
River system	Snake River watershed
Tributaries
• left	Lake Fork (Idaho), Clear Creek (Idaho), Round Valley Creek

Course

It rises at the confluence of Trail Creek and Cloochman Creek, in a meadow in the Payette National Forest in Valley County. The river flows south into Upper Payette Lake, then further south through a narrow valley into Payette Lake, with a surface elevation of 4,990 feet (1,520 m) above sea level. The river exits from the southwestern corner of the lake at McCall and flows southwards through Long Valley into Lake Cascade, a large reservoir formed by Cascade Dam. The Lake Fork and Gold Fork rivers join from the north and east sides of the lake.^[5]

About five miles (8 km) below the Cascade Dam and the town of Cascade, the North Fork reaches the end of Long Valley and enters a narrow canyon along the western side of the North Fork Range in the Boise National Forest. Paralleled by State Highway 55, it crosses into Boise County, where the canyon's depth exceeds 2,500 feet (760 m).

The North Fork joins with the Payette River at Banks (2,825 feet (860 m)). From there, the Payette River flows 62 miles (100 km) further west to its confluence with the Snake River at Payette, just northeast of Ontario, Oregon.^[5]

See also

• Rivers portal

• Columbia River
• List of rivers of Idaho
• List of longest streams of Idaho

References

1. "North Fork Payette River". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. 1979-06-21. Retrieved 2010-10-26.
2. "North Fork Payette River Subbasin Assessment" (PDF). Idaho Department of Environmental Quality. Retrieved 2010-10-26.
3. "Boundary Descriptions and Names of Regions, Subregions, Accounting Units and Cataloging Units". U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved 2010-08-22.
4. "USGS Gage #13246000 on the North Fork Payette River near Banks, ID: Water-Data Report 2009" (PDF). National Water Information System. U.S. Geological Survey. 1947–2009. Retrieved 2010-10-26.
5. USGS Topo Maps for United States (Map). Cartography by United States Geological Survey. ACME Mapper. Retrieved 2010-10-26.

External links

Media related to North Fork Payette River at Wikimedia Commons