PEND OREILLE RIVER

The 'Pend Oreille River' is a tributary of the Columbia River, approximately 130 mi (209 km) long, in northern Idaho and northeastern Washington in the United States, as well as southeastern British Columbia in Canada. In its passage through British Columbia its name is spelled 'Pend d'Oreille River'. It drains a scenic area of the Rocky Mountains along the U.S.-Canada border on the east side of the Columbia. The river is sometimes defined as the lower part of the Clark Fork, which rises in western Montana. The river drains an area of approximately 25,820 sq mi (66,874 km²), mostly through the Clark Fork and its tributaries in western Montana.

Contents

Course

Dams

Names

References

Course

The Pend Oreille River begins at Lake Pend Oreille in Bonner County, Idaho in the Idaho Panhandle, draining the lake from its western end near Sandpoint (The Clark Fork River enters the lake from is eastern end). It flows west, receiving the Priest River from the north at the town of Priest River, then flows into southern Pend Oreille County in northeastern Washington at Newport. Once in Washington it turns north, flowing along the eastern side of the Selkirk Mountains. It flows roughly parallel to the Idaho border for approximately 50 mi (80 km), through the Colville National Forest, past Tiger and Metaline Falls. It crosses the international border into southeastern British Columbia, looping west for about 15 miles (24 km) and joining the Columbia from the east, approximately 2 mi (3 km) north of the international border and approximately 5 miles (8 km) south of Montrose.

Dams

There are five dams on the Pend Oreille River: Waneta (owned by Tek Cominco) and Seven Mile (B.C. Hydro) dams in Canada, Boundary (Seattle City Light), Box Canyon (Pend Oreille County PUD), and Albeni Falls (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) dams in the United States. None provide for fish passage.

Names

Variant names, according to the USGS, include: Bitter Root River, Bitterroot River, Clark Fork, Clarke Fork, Clarkes Fork, Clarks Fork, Deer Lodge River, Hell Gate River, Missoula River, Pend d'Oreille River, Silver Bow River, Clark's Fork, and Pend-d'Oreille River.

References