Clark Fork River

Clark Fork
Original name given by
Lewis and Clark expedition:
Clark's River
The Clark Fork at Missoula, Montana
Map of the Clark Fork, its main tributaries and downriver connection to the Columbia River via the Pend Oreille River.
Location
CountryUnited States
StateMontana, Idaho
CitiesButte, Missoula
Physical characteristics
SourceSilver Bow Creek
 • locationButte, Silver Bow County, Montana
 • coordinates46°4′32″N 112°27′56″W / 46.07556°N 112.46556°W / 46.07556; -112.46556[1]
 • elevation6,882 ft (2,098 m)[2]
2nd sourceWarm Springs Creek (Montana)
 • locationFlint Creek Range, Granite County, Montana
 • coordinates46°15′39″N 113°8′12″W / 46.26083°N 113.13667°W / 46.26083; -113.13667[3]
 • elevation7,466 ft (2,276 m)[4]
Source confluence 
 • locationDeer Lodge County, Montana
 • coordinates46°11′12″N 112°46′18″W / 46.18667°N 112.77167°W / 46.18667; -112.77167[5]
 • elevation4,795 ft (1,462 m)[6]
MouthLake Pend Oreille
 • location
Bonner County, Idaho
 • coordinates
48°11′0″N 116°16′9″W / 48.18333°N 116.26917°W / 48.18333; -116.26917[5]
 • elevation
2,064 ft (629 m)[7]
Length310 mi (500 km)[5]
Basin size22,905 sq mi (59,320 km2)[8]
Discharge 
 • locationWhitehorse Rapids near Cabinet, ID[9]
 • average21,930 cu ft/s (621 m3/s)[10]
 • minimum762 cu ft/s (21.6 m3/s)
 • maximum195,000 cu ft/s (5,500 m3/s)
Basin features
Tributaries 
 • leftBitterroot River
 • rightBlackfoot River, Flathead River, Bull River

The Clark Fork, or the Clark Fork of the Columbia River, is a river in the U.S. states of Montana and Idaho, approximately 310 miles (500 km) long. It is named after William Clark of the 1806 Lewis and Clark Expedition. The largest river by volume in Montana,[11] it drains an extensive region of the Rocky Mountains in western Montana and northern Idaho in the watershed of the Columbia River. The river flows northwest through a long valley at the base of the Cabinet Mountains and empties into Lake Pend Oreille in the Idaho Panhandle. The Pend Oreille River in Idaho, Washington, and British Columbia, Canada which drains the lake to the Columbia in Washington, is sometimes included as part of the Clark Fork, giving it a total length of 479 miles (771 km), with a drainage area of 25,820 square miles (66,900 km2). In its upper 20 miles (32 km) in Montana near Butte, it is known as Silver Bow Creek. Interstate 90 follows much of the upper course of the river from Butte to Saint Regis. The highest point within the river's watershed is Mount Evans at 10,641 feet (3,243 m) in Deer Lodge County, Montana along the Continental Divide.[12]

The Clark Fork is a Class I river for recreational purposes in Montana from Warm Springs Creek to the Idaho border.[13]

  1. ^ "Silver Bow Creek". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior., USGS GNIS.
  2. ^ Google Earth elevation for GNIS Silver Bow Creek source coordinates.
  3. ^ "Warm Springs Creek (Montana)". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior., USGS GNIS.
  4. ^ Google Earth elevation for GNIS Warm Springs Creek source coordinates.
  5. ^ a b c "Clark Fork". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior., USGS GNIS.
  6. ^ Google Earth elevation for GNIS Clark Fork source coordinates.
  7. ^ Google Earth elevation for GNIS Clark Fork mouth coordinates.
  8. ^ "Pend Oreille subbasin overview" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-07-13. Retrieved 2007-05-06., Northwest Power and Conservation Council.
  9. ^ "Montana Water Resources Data 2004"., file "Mill Creek above Bassoo Creek, near Niarada to Clark Fork at Whitehorse Rapids, near Cabinet, ID" (PDF)..
  10. ^ "Montana Water Resources Data 2004"., file "Mill Creek above Bassoo Creek, near Niarada to Clark Fork at Whitehorse Rapids, near Cabinet, ID" (PDF)..
  11. ^ "Clark Fork Info". Clark Fork Watershed Education Program. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  12. ^ "Mount Evans, Montana". Peakbagger. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  13. ^ "Stream Access in Montana". Archived from the original on 2009-03-10.