Kilchis River
| Kilchis River | |
|---|---|
Lower Kilchis River near Idaville | |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Oregon |
| County | Tillamook County |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Northern Oregon Coast Range |
| • location | East of Tillamook |
| • coordinates | 45°36′15″N 123°45′14″W / 45.60417°N 123.75389°W |
| • elevation | 305 ft (93 m) |
| Mouth | Tillamook Bay |
• location | Oregon |
• coordinates | 45°29′46″N 123°51′53″W / 45.49611°N 123.86472°W |
• elevation | 13 ft (4.0 m) |
| Length | 14 mi (23 km) |
| Basin size | 65 sq mi (170 km2) |
| Discharge | |
| • average | 422 cu ft/s (11.9 m3/s) |
The Kilchis River is a stream, about 14 miles (23 km) long, near the coast of northwest Oregon in the United States. It drains a mountainous timbered region of about 65 square miles (170 km2) in the Northern Oregon Coast Range west of Portland.
The Kilchis River begins at the confluence of its North Fork and South Fork in northern Tillamook County in the Tillamook State Forest northeast of Bay City. It flows southwest, entering the southeast end of Tillamook Bay approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) northwest of the city of Tillamook. The mouth of the river is about 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the mouth of the Wilson River and about 2 miles (3.2 km) north of the mouth of the Trask River. It is one of five rivers—the Tillamook, the Trask, the Wilson, the Kilchis, and the Miami—that flow into the bay.
The river has good runs of steelhead and fall Chinook salmon. Because much of the land along the lower stretches is private, fishing is often done by drift boat launched from boat ramps at Kilchis County Park, County Park, and Mapes Creek. Anglers may also fish from stream banks on public land in the Tillamook State Forest.
The Kilchis River was named for the 19th century Tillamook leader Chief Kilchis, whose Tillamook name was [gə́lšəs] or [gə́lčəs].