Hayfork Creek

Hayfork Creek Hayfork River, Hayfork Branch, Hay Fork of the South Fork Trinity River
Map of the South Fork Trinity River basin, showing Hayfork Creek to the right of the main stem.
Etymology	Named for the hay fields of the richest agricultural region of Trinity County[1]
Location
Country	United States
State	California
Cities	Hayfork, Hyampom
Physical characteristics
Source	Pine Root Saddle and Brushy Mountain (Trinity County, California)
• location	Shasta-Trinity National Forest
• coordinates	40°17′36″N 123°04′22″W / 40.29333°N 123.07278°W / 40.29333; -123.07278[2]
• elevation	5,052 ft (1,540 m)
Mouth	South Fork Trinity River
• location	Hyampom
• coordinates	40°36′51″N 123°27′06″W / 40.61417°N 123.45167°W / 40.61417; -123.45167
• elevation	1,276 ft (389 m)
Length	50 mi (80 km), north then west
Basin size	379 sq mi (980 km2)[3]
Discharge
• average	552 cu ft/s (15.6 m3/s)[4]
• minimum	19 cu ft/s (0.54 m3/s)[4]
• maximum	29,400 cu ft/s (830 m3/s)[5]
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	Salt Creek, Tule Creek, Miners Creek, Corral Creek, Grassy Flats Creek, Big Creek, Bear Creek, Garden Gulch, Digger Gulch, Barker Creek, Big Canyon, Summit Creek, Drinkwater Gulch, Kingsbury Gulch, Kellogg Gulch, Carter Gulch, Bean Gulch, Cedar Gulch, Little Creek, Bar Gulch, Ewing Gulch, Morgan Gulch, Coon Creek, Coonrod Gulch, McCovey Gulch ,Dinner Gulch, Pasture Gulch, Walker Creek, Jud Creek, Rusch Creek, James Creek, East Fork Hayfork Creek, Carrier Gulch, Saddle Gulch, China Gulch, Negro Gulch, Dubakella Creek, Grapevine Gulch, Limestone Gulch, Duncan Creek

Hayfork Creek is a tributary of the South Fork Trinity River in Northern California in the United States. At over 50 miles (80 km) long, it is the river's longest tributary and is one of the southernmost streams in the Klamath Basin. It winds through a generally steep and narrow course north, then west through the forested Klamath Mountains, but also passes through the Hayfork and Hyampom Valleys, which are the primary agricultural regions of Trinity County.

Human habitation in the basin goes back more than 5,000 years. The watershed of the creek was originally inhabited by the Wintu people. The first Euro-Americans arrived in the late 1820s, but the basin was not developed until the 1850s with the onset of the California Gold Rush. The fertile soils and mild climate of the river valley led to it becoming the most prosperous agricultural area of the county. Logging began in the 1920s, and by the 1940s started to have an adverse impact on the ecology of the watershed, which includes once-abundant populations of Chinook salmon, steelhead and Coho Salmon.