Elk River (Oregon)

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Elk River

Origin	Siskiyou National Forest
Mouth	Pacific Ocean
Length	50 miles (80 km)
Mouth elevation	Sea level

The Elk River is in southwestern Oregon in the United States. Approximately 25 miles (40 km) long, the river drains a remote area of the Coastal Range into the Pacific Ocean.

Rising in the mountains in northern Curry County, in the Siskiyou National Forest, the river initially flows generally west, through the Grassy Knob Wilderness. It then flows northwest, approaching the coast north of Port Orford and entering the Pacific between Cape Blanco to the north and The Heads to the south. The lower section of the river flows through a steep canyon with exposed rock surfaces, forming an inner-gorge environment. Upstream, the gorge widens slightly, but the corridor remains very steep.^[1]

On October 28, 1988, the Elk River was designated Wild and Scenic. It has two classifications:

The 17-mile segment from the confluence of the North and South Fork of the Elk River to Anvil Creek is classified "recreational."
The 2-mile segment of the North Fork Elk River from the falls to its confluence with the South Fork Elk River is classified "wild."^[1]

[edit] Copper Salmon Wilderness campaign

13,700 acres (55.4 km²) along the North and South Forks of Elk River and the upper Middle Fork of Sixes River in under consideration for wilderness designation as the Copper Salmon Wilderness. The area contains one of the nation's largest remaining stands of low-elevation old-growth forest and one of the healthiest salmon, steelhead, and cutthroat trout runs in the continental United States along the north Fork of the Elk River, as well as stands of vulnerable Port Orford cedar and endangered marbled murrelets and northern spotted owls.^[2]