Breitenbush River

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Breitenbush River north of Detroit
Breitenbush River north of Detroit

The Breitenbush River is a tributary of the North Santiam River, approximately 20 mi (32 km) long, in western Oregon in the United States. It drains a rugged, forested area of the Cascade Range east of Salem.

It descends from several short forks in the Mount Jefferson Wilderness in the high Cascades of eastern Marion County. The South Fork Breitenbush River begins at creeks flowing from Bays Lake and Russell Lake within Jefferson Park at approximately elevation 6000 ft (1830 m) and flows WNW, joining with a number of other forks, variously unnamed depending on the map, or sometimes called North Fork of the South Fork of the South Fork, etc. The North Fork Breitenbush River begins at Breitenbush Lake (mostly on the Warm Springs Reservation) and joins with another fork which passes by Pyramid Lake. It flows WNW and connects with a half dozen other forks and creeks then turns WSW abeam Bald Butte. Several more creeks and Mink Creek and Rapidam Creek join before another fork

The North and South forks flow west, joining near the small community of Breitenbush. The combined stream flows generally WSW through the Willamette National Forest. It joins the North Santiam at Detroit. The lower 2 miles (3.2 km) of the river cut what is now an arm of Detroit Lake, formed by the Detroit Dam on the North Santiam. During the winter draw down of the reservoir, the original bed of the river is visible in its natural course.

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