Collawash River
| Collawash River | |
|---|---|
A deck arch bridge over the river, pictured in 1957 | |
| Etymology | Perhaps for a Sahaptin leader whose name was sometimes written as Colwash |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Oregon |
| County | Clackamas |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Confluence of Elk Lake Creek and East Fork Collawash River |
| • location | Cascade Range, Mount Hood National Forest, Clackamas County, Oregon |
| • coordinates | 44°53′42″N 122°00′16″W / 44.89500°N 122.00444°W |
| • elevation | 2,312 ft (705 m) |
| Mouth | Clackamas River |
• location | Mount Hood National Forest, Clackamas County, Oregon |
• coordinates | 45°01′52″N 122°03′41″W / 45.03111°N 122.06139°W |
• elevation | 1,470 ft (450 m) |
| Length | 12 mi (19 km) |
| Basin size | 150 sq mi (390 km2) |
| Type | Scenic, Recreational |
| Designated | March 30, 2009 |
The Collawash River is a 12-mile (19 km) tributary of the Clackamas River in the U.S. state of Oregon. Formed by the confluence of Elk Lake Creek and the East Fork Collawash River in the Cascade Range, it flows generally north-northwest from source to mouth through the Mount Hood National Forest. The largest tributary of the upper Clackamas, it provides about a third of bigger river's low-flow volume. About 35 percent of its watershed of 150 square miles (390 km2) is protected as wilderness.
Fish habitat in the watershed is rated good to excellent. Catch-and-release fishing for trout is allowed on the main stem and the Hot Springs Fork tributary, but the streams are closed to fishing for salmon and steelhead. For whitewater runners, the river is considered as two or three sections which range from class II to class V on the International Scale of River Difficulty. Suggested flow range is 500 to 1,000 cubic feet per second (14 to 28 m3/s).