| Elwha River | |
|---|---|
 U.S. Route 101 crossing the Elwha River with Mt Fairchild in the Background. | |
 Map of the Elwha River | |
  Mouth of the Elwha River in Washington | |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Washington |
| Counties | Clallam, Jefferson |
| City | Port Angeles |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Olympic Range |
| • coordinates | 47°46′8″N 123°34′43″W / 47.76889°N 123.57861°W[1] |
| • elevation | 3,655 ft (1,114 m)[2] |
| Mouth | Strait of Juan de Fuca |
• coordinates | 48°9′2″N 123°33′35″W / 48.15056°N 123.55972°W[1] |
• elevation | 0 ft (0 m)[2] |
| Length | 45 mi (72 km) |
| Basin size | 318 sq mi (820 km2)[3] |
| Discharge | |
| • location | McDonald Bridge, River mile 8.6[3] |
| • average | 1,507 cu ft/s (42.7 m3/s)[3] |
| • minimum | 10 cu ft/s (0.28 m3/s) |
| • maximum | 41,600 cu ft/s (1,180 m3/s) |
| Basin features | |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | Cat Creek, Goldie River, Indian Creek |
| • right | Hayes River, Lost River, Lillian River, Little River |
The Elwha River is a 45-mile (72 km) river on the Olympic Peninsula in the U.S. state of Washington. From its source at Elwha snowfinger in the Olympic Mountains, it flows generally north to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Most of the river's course is within the Olympic National Park.
The Elwha is one of several rivers in the Pacific Northwest that hosts all five species of native Pacific salmon (chinook, coho, chum, sockeye, and pink salmon), plus four anadromous trout species (steelhead, coastal cutthroat trout, bull trout, and Dolly Varden char). From 1911 to 2014, dams blocked fish passage on the lower Elwha River. Before the dams, 400,000 adult salmon returned yearly to spawn in 70 miles (110 km) of river habitat. Prior to dam removal, fewer than 4,000 salmon returned each year in only 4.9 miles (7.9 km) of habitat below the lower dam. The National Park Service removed the two dams as part of the $325 million Elwha Ecosystem Restoration Project. Dam removal work began in September 2011 and was completed in August 2014.[4] The river has already carried sediment to its mouth, creating 70 acres of estuary habitat at the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
The first documented use of the name Elwha River dates to Henry Kellett's 1846 map.[5]
- ^ a b "Elwha River". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. September 10, 1979. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
- ^ a b Google Earth elevation for GNIS coordinates.
- ^ a b c Hoko, Elwha, and Dungeness River Basins, Water Resource Data, Washington, 2005, USGS.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
leach_estuarywas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Parratt, Smitty (1984). Gods & goblins: A Field Guide to Place Names of Olympic National Park. CP Publications. p. 43. ISBN 978-0-914195-00-9.