Kiger Creek (Harney County, Oregon)

Kiger Creek
Kiger Gorge, looking north, downstream
Kiger Creek (Harney County, Oregon) is located in Oregon
Kiger Creek (Harney County, Oregon)
Location of the mouth of Kiger Creek in Oregon
EtymologyFor the Kiger family, who briefly settled in the vicinity in the 1870s[2]
Location
CountryUnited States
StateOregon
CountyHarney
Physical characteristics
SourceSteens Mountain
 • locationOregon
 • coordinates42°42′29″N 118°33′57″W / 42.70806°N 118.56583°W / 42.70806; -118.56583[1]
 • elevation7,979 ft (2,432 m)[3]
MouthSwamp Creek
 • coordinates
43°01′59″N 118°42′48″W / 43.03306°N 118.71333°W / 43.03306; -118.71333[1]
 • elevation
4,163 ft (1,269 m)[1]
TypeWild
DesignatedOctober 30, 2000

Kiger Creek is a tributary of Swamp Creek in Harney County in the U.S. state of Oregon.[1] It originates on Steens Mountain and flows generally north through Kiger Gorge to meet Swamp Creek near the unincorporated community of Diamond. The combined streams flow into Diamond Swamp and the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.[4]

A 4.3-mile (6.9 km) segment of Kiger Creek, from its headwaters to where it crosses the Steens Mountain Wilderness boundary, is part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. Designated "wild", the creek supports a population of redband trout, and its watershed includes habitat for mule deer, elk, bighorn sheep, and pronghorn.[5]

  1. ^ a b c d "Kiger Creek". Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). United States Geological Survey (USGS). November 28, 1980. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  2. ^ McArthur, Lewis A.; McArthur, Lewis L. (2003) [1928]. Oregon Geographic Names (7th ed.). Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society Press. pp. 533–34. ISBN 0-87595-277-1.
  3. ^ Source elevation derived from Google Earth search using GNIS source coordinates.
  4. ^ "United States Topographic Map". United States Geological Survey. Retrieved December 9, 2015 – via ACME Mapper.
  5. ^ "Wildhorse & Kiger Creeks, Oregon". National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. Retrieved December 9, 2015.