Hoh River
Hoh River | |
---|---|
Hoh Native American tribe | |
Location | |
Country | United States |
State | Washington |
Counties | Clallam, Jefferson |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | Hoh Glacier |
• location | Mount Olympus, Olympic Mountains, Washington |
• coordinates | 47°48′37″N 123°38′55″W / 47.81028°N 123.64861°W[1] |
• elevation | 7,000 ft (2,100 m)[2] |
Mouth | Pacific Ocean |
• coordinates | 47°44′58″N 124°26′21″W / 47.74944°N 124.43917°W[1] |
Length | 56 mi (90 km)[3] |
Basin size | 299 sq mi (770 km2)[3] |
Discharge | |
• location | river mile 15.4 near Forks[4] |
• average | 2,538 cu ft/s (71.9 m3/s)[4] |
• minimum | 252 cu ft/s (7.1 m3/s) |
• maximum | 40,000 cu ft/s (1,100 m3/s) |
The Hoh River is a river of the
The Hoh's drainage basin is 299 square miles (770 km2). Its discharge, or streamflow, has considerable seasonal variation, with summer flow averaging about one-third that of winter flows.[3]
The Hoh is a glacial river fed by glaciers on Mount Olympus, such as the Blue Glacier. The glaciers grind rock into a fine glacial flour which turns the Hoh River a milky slate blue color. The river valley is generally broad and relatively flat, causing the glacial sediments to settle out, creating extensive gravel bars, river meanders, and the many side channels characteristic of a braided river.
One of the road entrances to Olympic National Park exits from Olympic
The river's name and the name of the
Course
The source of the Hoh River is meltwater from Hoh Glacier on the northeast side of Mount Olympus. The river flows north then west, curving around the entire north side of the mountain. It collects headwater tributaries from other glaciers on Mount Olympus including Glacier Creek, which flows from Blue Glacier and White Glacier, and the Ice River, which flows from the nearby Ice River Glacier on Mount Mercury. Mount Tom Creek, a tributary which joins the Hoh farther downstream, has its source in a western arm of the White Glacier as well. Other headwater tributaries include Elkhorn Creek and Cream Lake Creek, both of which originate from the Bailey Range. About a mile below the Glacier Creek confluence, at approximately Hoh river mile 48, the valley broadens and the Hoh begins to take on the braided channel characteristic of a bottomland river. Falls Creek joins from the south, then Slate Creek and Hoh Creek from the north.
Olympus Ranger Station, a
The Hoh River continues flowing west, collecting numerous tributary streams, the most important being the South Fork Hoh River, which joins the main Hoh at about river mile 31. About a mile below the South Fork confluence the Hoh River leaves Olympic National Park. It continues to flow west through a widening valley surrounded by low mountains and foothills. Ranches occupy parts of the valley and land ownership is generally private. Owl Creek and Maple Creek join from the south. The Hoh makes a small northward bend, skirting the edge of, and briefly entering
Below the horseshoe bend the Hoh River begins to meander widely through a broad and flat coastal floodplain.[6] In its final miles the Hoh River collects the tributaries Braden Creek, Fletcher Creek and Fossil Creek. Highway 101 leaves the river at this point and continues south. About two miles from its mouth the Hoh River forms the boundary between the Hoh Indian Reservation on the south bank, and the coastal portion of Olympic National Park to the north. The former settlement of Oil City is located on the north side of the Hoh River about a half mile from its mouth. A large headland peninsula called Hoh Head[7] is located on the Pacific coast a few miles north of the river's mouth.[8][9]
South Fork
The South Fork Hoh River originates at 47°46′53″N 123°43′2″W / 47.78139°N 123.71722°W, flowing from Hubert Glacier and other small glaciers on the south side of Mount Olympus. It flows generally west through Olympic National Park collecting many tributary streams. At about river mile 11 it enters a broad glacially carved U-shaped valley and becomes braided. The South Fork leaves Olympic National Park at approximately river mile 4, entering Olympic National Forest. It turns slightly northwest and joins the main Hoh River at approximately Hoh river mile 31.[10] South Fork Campground, managed by Washington State DNR, is located on the South Fork. The road to the campground continues up the South Fork Hoh River to the South Fork Hoh Trailhead, just west of the national park boundary.[8][9]
History
The indigenous people of the Hoh River are known as the Hoh but they call themselves chalat'. Their name for the Hoh River is chalak'ac'it.[11]
The earliest documented encounter between Europeans and the Hoh people occurred in 1787 when the British fur trader Charles William Barkley, captain of the Imperial Eagle, dispatched a boat up the Hoh River to trade with the natives. The boat's crew of six were killed by the Hoh people, according to European histories. The incident led to the naming of Destruction Island. Barkley named the river Destruction River, but the name became attached to the island instead. The Hoh people deny the story, saying they never massacred ship-wrecked sailors.[11]
In 1808 the
In the 1850s
Early pioneers wishing to settle in the Hoh River valley faced numerous challenges including the dense forest and enormous trees, regular large-scale flooding, isolation from markets, and the impracticality of navigating the Hoh River due to its swift current, floods, and frequent logjams. Nevertheless, land relatively far upriver was settled. The area now within Olympic National Park was never inhabited by non-indigenous people. By 1900 the population in the Hoh River Valley was enough to warrant two post offices, one established in 1897, the other in 1904. Over time the population dwindled. By 1919 there were few people left. Abandoned structures rapidly deteriorated in the wet environment. The few historic structures that used to exist in the Hoh River Valley are entirely gone today.[14]
On the north side of the mouth of the Hoh River, across from the Hoh Indian Reservation, the town of Oil City was established in 1911 by Frank W. Johnson and the Olympic Oil Company. Natives had already discovered the oil, which seeps to the surface. This was to be a deep water oil port. Many of the lots were bought on the hopes of oil prosperity, but some were used for vacation homes. Oil drilling operations were conducted by the Milwaukee Oil Co., the Washington Oil Co., the Jefferson Oil Co. and others in the surrounding areas. No significant commercial oil reserves were found. Later, two-thirds of the platted city were returned to the state which now forms part of the Olympic Wilderness Park. http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=7446
Natural history
A significant part of the Hoh River flows through the
When Olympic National Park was created in 1938 one of its primary objectives was to protect the herds of Roosevelt elk. Today about 400 of the park's 4,000–5,000 elk live in the Hoh River valley.[2]
The Hoh River supports a variety of salmonid fish, including spring and fall chinook, coho salmon, winter and summer steelhead, and sea-run coastal cutthroat trout. There are also smaller numbers of chum and sockeye salmon.[17] The Hoh River fishery is managed by the Hoh tribe in cooperation with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife [1].[11]
Land use
Land administration within the Hoh River's watershed, approximately, is 57.6%
Recreation
The Hoh River Trail, managed by the National Park Service, begins at the national park's Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center at the end of the Upper Hoh Road. The trail follows the Hoh River east into the heart of the park. After 17.5 mi (28.2 km) it reaches Glacier Meadows near Mount Olympus's
The Hoh Lake Trail branches off from the Hoh River Trail near the Olympus Ranger Station and ascends to Hoh Lake and Bogachiel Peak, then across High Divide into the Sol Duc River valley.[20]
The Oil City Trail, managed by Olympic National Park, begins on the north side of the mouth of the Hoh River and runs about a mile to the Pacific coast. People can hike north along the coast to Hoh Head and beyond.[21]
See also
References
- ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Hoh River
- ^ a b c "Hoh Rain Forest" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 31 July 2009.
- ^ a b c d "Physical characteristics of selected rivers draining the Olympic Peninsula". NOAA, Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC). Archived from the original on 13 May 2009. Retrieved 16 July 2009.
- ^ USGS. Retrieved 31 July 2009.
- ISBN 978-0-8061-3598-4.
- doi:10.1130/0091-7613(2001)029<0971:podfaw>2.0.co;2. Archived from the original(PDF) on 26 February 2007.
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Hoh Head
- ^ a b General course info mainly from USGS topographic maps accessed via the "GNIS in Google Map" feature of the USGS Geographic Names Information System website.
- ^ a b "Wilderness Map, Olympic National Park" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 31 July 2009.
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: South Fork Hoh River
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8061-3552-6.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8061-2479-7.
- ISBN 0-295-97443-5.
- ^ "Settlement of the Hoh River Valley". National Park Service. Retrieved 31 July 2009.
- ^ "Visiting the Hoh Rain Forest". National Park Service. Retrieved 31 July 2009.
- ^ "Temperate Rain Forest". National Park Service. Retrieved 31 July 2009.
- ISBN 1-57188-367-3.
- ^ "Watershed Conditions and Seasonal Variability for Select Streams within WRIA 20, Olympic Peninsula, Washington" (PDF). U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 June 2010. Retrieved 31 July 2009.
- ^ "Hoh River Trail". National Park Service. Retrieved 31 July 2009.
- ^ "Hoh Lake Trail". National Park Service. Retrieved 31 July 2009.
- ^ "Oil City Trail". National Park Service. Retrieved 31 July 2009.
External links
- Hoh River mouth, Shoreline Aerial Photos, Washington State Department of Ecology
- Hoh Head, Shoreline Aerial Photos, Washington State Department of Ecology
- The Hoh River Trust