Sandy River (Oregon)

Geobox | River
name = Sandy River
category = River

---

image_size =
image_caption = Sandy River and Mount Hood
etymology = Named "Quicksand River" in 1805 by Lewis and Clark because of "emence quantitys of sand" at the mouth; apparently shortened to "Sandy River" locally by 1845–50cite book | last = McArthur | first = Lewis A. | coauthors = McArthur, Lewis L. | title = Oregon Geographic Names, Seventh Edition | publisher = Oregon Historical Society Press | date = 2003 | location = Portland, Oregon | pages = 846–47 | isbn = 0-87595-277-1]
country = United States
country_

state = Oregon
district_type = County
district = Clackamas County, Multnomah County
source = Mount Hood
source_location =
source_region = Clackamas County
source_state = Oregon
source_elevation_imperial = 6921
source_elevation_note = Source elevation derived from Google Earth search using GNIS source coordinates.]
source_length_imperial =
source_lat_d = 45
source_lat_m = 22
source_lat_s = 32
source_lat_NS = N
source_long_d = 121
source_long_m = 43
source_long_s = 45
source_long_EW = W
source_coordinates_note =
mouth_name = Columbia River
mouth_location = near Troutdale
mouth_district =
mouth_region = Multnomah County
mouth_state = Oregon
mouth_country =
mouth_note =
mouth_lat_d = 45
mouth_lat_m = 34
mouth_lat_s = 05
mouth_lat_NS = N
mouth_long_d = 122
mouth_long_m = 24
mouth_long_s = 03
mouth_long_EW = W
mouth_coordinates_note =
mouth_elevation_imperial = 20
mouth_elevation_note = cite web | work = Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)| publisher = United States Geological Survey (USGS) | date = November 28, 1980 | url = http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:1167864 | title = Sandy River | accessdaymonth = September 15, | accessyear = 2008]
length_imperial = 56
length_round = 0
length_note = [cite web | title = Welcome to a Special Place, the Sandy River Basin | publisher = Sandy River Basin Watershed Council | date = 2007 | url = http://www.sandyriver.org/ | accessdaymonth = September 19, |accessyear = 2008 ]
watershed_imperial = 508
watershed_round = 0
watershed_note = cite web |last = Taylor | first = Barbara | title = Salmon and Steelhead Runs and Related Events of the Sandy River Basin - A Historical Perspective | publisher = Portland General Electric | date = December 1998 | url = http://www.portlandgeneral.com/community_and_env/hydropower_and_fish/sandy/history/sandy_river_history_full.pdf |format = pdf | accessdaymonth = October 2, |accessyear = 2008 ]
discharge_location = near Dodge Park, convert|18.4|mi|km from mouth
discharge_round = 0
discharge_imperial = 2300
discharge_note = cite web| title=USGS 14142500 Sandy River Below Bull Run River, near Bull Run, OR| publisher = United States Geological Survey |date = 2008 | url = http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?14142500 | accessdaymonth = May 5, | accessyear = 2008 ] Average discharge rate was calculated by adding average annual discharge rates for 10 calendar years, 1994–2003, from USGS records and dividing by 10.]
discharge_min_imperial = 45
discharge_max_imperial = 84400
discharge1_location =
discharge1_imperial =
discharge1_note =


map_size =
map_caption =
map1 = Oregon Locator Map.png map1_size = 300
map1_caption = Location of the mouth of the Sandy River in Oregon
map1_locator = Oregon
commons =

The Sandy River is a convert|56|mi|km|adj=on tributary of the Columbia River in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Measured by a United States Geological Survey (USGS) gauge downstream of the Sandy's confluence with the Bull Run River, convert|18.4|mi|km from the mouth, the river's average discharge is convert|2300|ft3/s|m3/s. The maximum daily recorded flow is convert|84400|ft3/s|m3/s, and the minimum is convert|45|ft3/s|m3/s. The Sandy joins the Columbia about convert|14|mi|km upstream of Portland.

Course

Issuing from Reid Glacier on the southwest flanks of Mount Hood in the Cascade Range, the Sandy River flows generally west and then north for convert|56|mi|km through Clackamas County and Multnomah County to the Columbia River at Troutdale. [ The nearby Sandy Glacier drains into Muddy Fork, a tributary of the Sandy River, rather than directly into the main stem.] In its first convert|12|mi|km, the Sandy River flows across Old Maid Flat, north of Zigzag Mountain in the Mount Hood Wilderness of the Mount Hood National Forest. In this initial stretch near the headwaters, it receives Rushing Water Creek from the left, Muddy Fork from the right, then Lost Creek and Horseshoe Creek from the left, and crosses under Lolo Pass Road just before receiving Clear Creek from the right. At about convert|41|mi|km from the mouth, the Zigzag River enters from the left near the unincorporated community of Zigzag. From here the river runs roughly parallel to U.S. Route 26, which is on its left for about the next convert|20|mi|km. Just below Zigzag, the Sandy River passes the unincorporated community of Wemme on the left. cite map |publisher = DeLorme Mapping |title = Oregon Atlas & Gazetteer |edition = 1991 |section = 61–62, 67 |isbn = 0-89933-235-8 ] cite web | title = Online Topographic Maps from the United States Geological Survey | publisher = TopoQuest | url = http://www.topoquest.com/ | accessdate = 2008-09-30]

At about convert|39|mi|km from the mouth, the river receives Hackett Creek from the right, passes the unincorporated community of Brightwood shortly thereafter, and receives North Boulder Creek from the right. Barlow Trail County Park and remnants of the Barlow Road lie to the right along this stretch of the river. Between convert|38|mi|km and convert|37|mi|km from the mouth, the Salmon River enters from the left. Roughly convert|4|mi|km later, Wildcat Creek enters from the left and then Alder Creek and Whiskey Creek, also from the left. The river passes the Marmot gauging station operated by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with Portland General Electric at river mile (RM) 29.8 (river kilometer (RK) 48.0). The unincorporated community of Marmot lies to the right of the river on a ridge—the Devil's Backbone—separating the Sandy River from the Little Sandy River to the north. cite web| title=USGS 14137002 Sandy River Below Marmot Dam, Near Marmot, OR| publisher = United States Geological Survey |date = 2008 | url = http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?14137002 | accessdate = 2008-09-30 ]

from the right and passes a second USGS gauge at RM 18.4 (RK 29.6). Shortly thereafter, Walker Creek enters from the right. Between convert|17|mi|km and convert|16|mi|km from the mouth, the Sandy River enters Multnomah County, curves back into Clackamas County, and re-enters Multnomah County. About convert|1|mi|km further downstream, Bear Creek enters from the left, and the river flows around Indian John Island.

Soon Trout Creek, Gordon Creek, and Buck Creek all enter from the right as the river winds through Oxbow Regional Park between convert|14|mi|km and convert|11|mi|km from the mouth. Passing Camp Collins about convert|1|mi|km later, the river receives Big Creek from the right. Dabney State Recreation Area is on the right about convert|4|mi|km later. Lewis and Clark State Recreation Site is on the right and Troutdale on the left at about convert|3|mi|km from the mouth, where Beaver Creek enters from the left. Shortly thereafter, the river passes under Interstate 84 and flows by Portland-Troutdale Airport, which is on the left about convert|2|mi|km from the mouth. The Sandy River then joins the Columbia River about convert|120|mi|km from where the larger river enters the Pacific Ocean. The confluence is about convert|14|mi|km east of Portland, near the lower end of the Columbia River Gorge.

Tributaries

The Bull Run River provides drinking water via the Bull Run Reservoir for the Portland Metropolitan area. The Sandy River Fish Hatchery lies on Cedar Creek very near to its confluence with the Sandy.

Recreation

The river is one of the few declared navigable rivers in Oregon. Because of this, public use is permitted from the line of high water mark and below. The most notable parks on the Sandy River (going upstream) are Glenn Otto Park, Lewis and Clark State Recreation Site (boat ramp), Dabney State Recreation Area (boat ramp + parking fees), Oxbow Regional Park (boat ramp + parking fees) and Dodge Park.

Hydroelectric decommissioning

.

On July 24, 2007, Marmot Dam was blown by engineers using 650 pounds of explosives. It will be followed by the Little Sandy Dam in 2008. Roslyn Lake will then cease to exist. The decommissioning will restore the Little Sandy River to steelhead and salmon runs for the first time in a hundred years. Marmot Dam had always contained a fish ladder. Portland General Electric, the dams' owner, will also donate convert|1500|acre|km2 of land near the dams to a nature reserve. [cite news
title=A river released to the wild
work=The Oregonian
url=http://0-docs.newsbank.com.catalog.multcolib.org/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:NewsBank:ORGB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=11ABC3E11630C940&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated4&req_dat=0D10F2CADB4B24C0
date=July 29, 2007] . The final phase of the Marmot Dam removal was completed on October 19, 2007, when the temporary dam was demolished and the river started to flow freely for the first time since 1913. [cite news
title=Rain helps Sandy River run wild, free
work=The Oregonian
url=http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1192935309261960.xml&coll=7
date=October 20, 2007]

History

Archeological evidence suggests that Native Americans lived along the lower Columbia River as early as 10,000 years ago. The area near what later became The Dalles, on the Columbia east of the mouth of the Sandy River, eventually became an important trading center. The Indians established villages on floodplains and traveled seasonally to gather huckleberries and other food on upland meadows, to fish for salmon, and to hunt elk and deer. Although no direct evidence exists that these lower-Columbia Indians traveled up the Sandy, it is likely that they did. Traces of these people include petroglyphs carved into the rocks of the Columbia River Gorge. More recently, within the past few thousand years, Indians created trails across the Cascade Range around Mount Hood. The trail network linked the trading center at Wascopam, near The Dalles, to settlements in the Willamette Valley. One popular trail crossed over Lolo Pass and another, which later became the Barlow Road, met the Lolo Pass trail roughly where the Zigzag and Salmon rivers enter the Sandy. Indians from villages along the Columbia, Clackamas, and other rivers also traveled by water to the lower Sandy River area to fish for salmon and to gather berries, nuts and roots.

In 1792 William Robert Broughton of the Vancouver Expedition explored the lower Columbia River. He named the Sandy River "Baring River", but noted the existence of a large sand bank that nearly blocked the Columbia River at the mouth of the Sandy River. In 1805 and again in 1806, members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition explored the lower stretches of the Sandy River as they traveled down the Columbia to the Pacific Ocean. Mount Hood, at the river's headwaters, had erupted a few years earlier, causing loose sediment to collect at the river's mouth.cite web| url= http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/Hood/description_hood.html | title = Description: Mount Hood Volcano, Oregon | publisher = United States Geological Survey| date = 2008 | accessdaymonth = September 27, | accessyear = 2008] On November 3, 1805, William Clark wrote: "I arrived at the entrance of a river which appeared to Scatter over a Sand bar, the bottom of which I could See quite across and did not appear to be 4 Inches deep in any part; I attempted to wade this Stream and to my astonishment found the bottom a quick Sand, and impassable... "cite web| url= http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/ohq/105.3/oconnor.html |title = The Evolving Landscape of the Columbia River Gorge: Lewis and Clark and Cataclysms on the Columbia| first = Jim E | last = O'Connor | publisher = "Oregon Historical Quarterly"| date = Fall 2004 | accessdaymonth = September 27, | accessyear = 2008]

One of the first documented visits by European-Americans to the upper Sandy River basin occurred in 1838, when Daniel Lee, the son of missionary Jason Lee, used the Indian trail over Lolo Pass to drive cattle from a Methodist mission in the Willamette Valley to a mission in Wascopam. Other pioneers later used the trail to drive livestock over the mountains. The first wagons came over the Cascades in 1840, and in 1843 the great east-west migration of settlers to the Oregon Territory began. The Barlow Road, along the Indian trail leading west from the Lolo Trail, opened in 1846 and became popular with new settlers. A branch of this road followed the Devil's Backbone between the Sandy and the Little Sandy watersheds.

ee also

*List of Oregon rivers
*Oxbow Regional Park
*List of National Wild and Scenic Rivers

References

External links

*cite news
title=Engineers blow up dam on Oregon's Sandy River
first=Cindy
last=Tetzler
url=http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=74217
work=9news.com
date=July 24, 2007
* cite news
title=PGE will remove 2 dams in basin of Sandy River
last=Brinckman
first=Jonathan
work=The Oregonian
url=http://www.fwee.org/news/getStory?story=973
date=October 12, 2002