Grave Creek (Oregon)

This article is about a creek in Oregon. For the burial site in West Virginia, see Grave Creek Mound.
Grave Creek
The covered bridge over Grave Creek on Sunny Valley Loop Road
Name origin: The grave of a child, Martha Leland Crowley, who died near the creek in 1846[1]
Country United States
State Oregon
County Douglas, Jackson, and Josephine
Source Cedar Springs Mountain
 - location Klamath Mountains, Douglas County, Oregon
 - elevation 4,556 ft (1,389 m) [2]
 - coordinates 42°45′26″N 123°07′41″W / 42.75722°N 123.12806°W [3]
Mouth Rogue River
 - location about 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Galice, Josephine County, Oregon
 - elevation 623 ft (190 m) [3]
 - coordinates 42°38′54″N 123°35′05″W / 42.64833°N 123.58472°WCoordinates: 42°38′54″N 123°35′05″W / 42.64833°N 123.58472°W [3]
Basin 163 sq mi (422 km2) [4]
Discharge for near Placer
 - average 132 cu ft/s (4 m3/s) [4][5]
 - max 8,000 cu ft/s (227 m3/s)
 - min 1 cu ft/s (0 m3/s)
Location of the mouth of Grave Creek in Oregon

Grave Creek is a tributary, about 30 miles (48 km) long, of the Rogue River in southwestern Oregon in the United States. The creek begins near Cedar Springs Mountain just north of the Douglas County – Jackson County border and flows generally southwest through Jackson County and Josephine County to its confluence with the Rogue.[6] Wolf Creek and Sunny Valley are the main communities along the creek. Major tributaries include Reuben, Poorman, Wolf, and Rock creeks.[4]

Outdoor activities

Grave Creek Covered Bridge

Hiking trails and river runs converge at the confluence of Grave Creek and the Rogue River. Boaters sometimes run the lower 6 miles (10 km) of Grave Creek when its flow is 500 to 1,000 cubic feet per second (14 to 28 m3/s).[7] The run, rated class 3 on the International Scale of River Difficulty, has "short twisting blind drops on the section not visible from the road"[7] and possible hazards that include low-hanging footbridges as well as brush along the stream banks. A handy stopping place for this run is the boat ramp near the Grave Creek Bridge over the Rogue River.[7] The ramp is also popular with rafters and kayakers running the 40-mile (64 km) "wild" stretch of the Wild and Scenic lower Rogue, which begins at the mouth of Grave Creek.[8] It is "one of the best-known whitewater runs in the United States."[9] Parallel to the wild stretch of the river, the Lower Rogue River Trail winds through the Wild Rogue Wilderness between the mouth of Grave Creek and Illahe.[8]

References

  1. ↑ McArthur, Lewis A.; McArthur, Lewis L. (2003). Oregon Geographic Names (Seventh ed.). Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society Press. pp. 424–25. ISBN 0-87595-277-1.
  2. ↑ Source elevation derived from Google Earth search using Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) source coordinates.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Grave Creek". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. November 28, 1980. Retrieved June 1, 2009.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Grave Creek Water Quality Restoration Plan 2001" (PDF). Bureau of Land Management, Medford District Office. Retrieved June 3, 2009.
  5. ↑ "USGS 14372000 Grave Creek near Placer, Oregon". United States Geological Survey (USGS). Retrieved June 3, 2009.The average flow was derived by adding the average annual flows from this discontinued gauge for the years 1951–54 and dividing by 4.
  6. ↑ Oregon Atlas and Gazetteer (Map) (1991 ed.). DeLorme Mapping. § 26–27. ISBN 0-89933-235-8.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Giordano, p. 117
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Sullivan, pp. 187–93
  9. ↑ Giordano, p. 120

External links

Works cited