Skagit River

Skagit River
Gorge Lake portion of the Skagit River in Washington
Map of the Skagit River drainage basin
Location
Country	Canada, United States
Region	British Columbia, Washington
Cities	Newhalem, Marblemount, Rockport, Concrete, Sedro-Woolley, Mount Vernon, Burlington
Physical characteristics
Source	Allison Pass
• location	E. C. Manning Provincial Park, British Columbia
• coordinates	49°07′23″N 120°52′39″W / 49.12306°N 120.87750°W / 49.12306; -120.87750
• elevation	4,480 ft (1,370 m)
Mount Vernon, WA, river mile 1 (rkm 1.6)
• average	16,530 cu ft/s (468 m3/s)
• minimum	3,050 cu ft/s (86 m3/s)
• maximum	180,000 cu ft/s (5,100 m3/s)
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	Cascade River, Sauk River
• right	Baker River
National Wild and Scenic River
Type	Scenic, Recreational
Designated	November 10, 1978

The Skagit River (/ˈskædʒɪt/ SKAJ-it) is a river in southwestern British Columbia in Canada and northwestern Washington in the United States, approximately 150 mi (240 km) long. The river and its tributaries drain an area of 1.7 million acres (690,000 hectares) of the Cascade Range along the northern end of Puget Sound and flows into the sound.^[1]

The Skagit watershed is characterized by a temperate, mid-latitude, maritime climate. Temperatures range widely throughout the watershed. Recorded temperatures at Newhalem range from a low of −6 °F (−21 °C) to a high of 109 °F (43 °C), with greater extremes likely in the mountains. The highest temperatures are commonly recorded in July; the lowest are in January.

The Skagit River rises at

Ross Lake is formed by Ross Dam and is approximately 24 miles (39 km) long, winding south through Ross Lake National Recreation Area. Here the river receives Beaver Creek from the right and Ruby Creek from the left. Spilling out of the dam the river enters Diablo Lake, formed by Diablo Dam, and receives Thunder and Colonial creeks from the left, before it enters the third and final reservoir, Gorge Lake, formed by Gorge Dam. All three dams are part of the Skagit River Hydroelectric Project.

Past Gorge Dam, the river is often dry, as its waters have been diverted to generate hydroelectricity. Water is returned to the river as it passes Newhalem, a company town for Seattle City Light. Copper and Bacon creeks, both flowing from North Cascades National Park, merge into the Skagit from the right as it meanders slowly through an agricultural valley, past Marblemount, where the Cascade River joins from the left, and Rockport, where it receives its major tributary, the Sauk River, from the left.

After receiving the Sauk River, the Skagit turns west, flowing past

At the former site of Skagit City, the Skagit River diverges into two forks, a north and south fork. Fir Island lies between the forks in the 90,000-acre (36,000 ha) floodplain.^[3] These two forks both empty into Skagit Bay, a branch of Puget Sound.

The Skagit provides spawning habitat for salmon. It is the only large river system in Washington that contains healthy populations of all five native salmon species – chinook, coho, chum, pink, and sockeye – and two species of trout: steelhead and coastal cutthroat.

The river supports one of the largest wintering bald eagle populations in the contiguous United States.^[4] The eagles feed on Chum and Coho salmon that have returned to spawn in the Skagit and its tributaries. The eagles arrive in late October or early November and stay into February. The highest number of eagles is usually seen in January. These eagles come from inland Canada and as far away as Alaska and Montana. When the salmon run is plentiful, as many as 600 to 800 eagles are attracted to the river.

Thousands of

Historically, the Skagit tidal estuary had beaver dams in the myrtle zone. These were overtopped at high tide, but at low tide their ponds nurtured juvenile salmon.

The Skagit River basin provides habitat for a diverse set of animals. For more information about these animals, see

The Skagit River was highly influenced by the repeated advance and retreat of the Puget Lobe of the

Above Newhalem, Washington, the Skagit flows through a deep gorge, contrasting strongly with the glacial valley below Newhalem. One of the several theories about this anomaly is that the upper Skagit once drained northward into Canada and the growth and retreat of successive Cordilleran ice flows brought about the reversal. Each advance blocked the river, forcing it to find new routes to the south, in the process carving deep gorges. Eventually, the Skagit gorge was so deep that even after the Cordilleran ice retreated for good, the river continued flowing south instead of north into Canada.[5]

The Skagit watershed is made up of high peaks and low valleys. The highest points in the basin are two

The river takes its name from the Skagit tribe, a name used by Europeans and Americans for two distinct

Settlement along the river by European Americans in the late 1800s was inhibited by two ancient logjams that blocked navigation upriver. The settlers first established a village at the tip of the delta which they called Skagit City. The massive logjam was found about 10 miles (16 km) upstream from the mouth of the river. Attempts to remove it began in 1874 by a team of loggers, who salvaged the logs. After three years of work, a 5-acre (20,000 m²) section of the jam broke free and scattered downriver. Soon thereafter the river became navigable. Mount Vernon was founded at the approximate site of this logjam.^[8]

In November 1897, the Skagit River flooded severely; in the aftermath as the floodwaters receded, two new logjams formed and blocked navigation. The largest was near the mouth, and filled the river from bank to bank for about 800 yards (730 m). Using a recently built logjam removal boat named Skagit, teams finally cleared this jam in about a month.^[8] The years 1909, 1917, and 1921 are the other annual peak discharges of record for the gauging station at Concrete which is at the confluence of the Baker and Skagit Rivers.^[9]

November 2017 brought significant flooding to the lower river at Mt. Vernon and Lyman.^[10]

In 1978, the

• Free-flowing characteristics and water quality of each of the four rivers;
• Outstandingly remarkable wildlife, fish, and scenic qualities.^[11]

The Skagit Wild and Scenic River System flows through both public and private lands. Fifty percent of the system is in private ownership, 44 percent is National Forest System land, and 6 percent is owned by the state and other agencies. The Skagit Wild and Scenic River is managed by the

Tributaries in Canada

• Skaist River
• Sumallo River
• Klesilkwa River

Tributaries in the US

• Cascade River
• Sauk River
• Baker River

• Mount Vernon
• Burlington
• Sedro-Woolley
• Lyman
• Hamilton
• Concrete
• Rockport
• Newhalem

• List of rivers of British Columbia
• List of Washington rivers
• List of National Wild and Scenic Rivers

• "Fish checklist" (PDF). U.S. National Park Service. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 12, 2005. Retrieved May 22, 2006.
• "Mammal checklist" (PDF). U.S. National Park Service. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 12, 2005. Retrieved May 22, 2006.
• "Bird checklist". U.S. National Park Service. Retrieved May 22, 2006.
• Weisberg, Saul; Riedel, John; Johannessen, Tracie & Scherer, Wendy (1993). "Sharing the Skagit, An Educator's Guide to the Skagit River Watershed". North Cascade Institute: 49–53. Archived from the original on May 2, 2006.
• "Tribes of the park complex". U.S. National Park Service. Retrieved May 22, 2006.
• Suiter, John. Poets on the Peaks (2002) Counterpoint.
  ISBN 1-58243-294-5
  (pbk)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Skagit River.

• Skagit River Flows and Forecasts
• Skagit River Journal of History & Folklore
• History of Skagit River flooding
• Skagit River Basin
• Skagit Valley Provincial Park
• North Cascades National Park
• Rasar State Park
• History of the Skagit River Railway
• U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Skagit River
• Skagit River and Delta: Conservation from Summit to Sea