Little Butte Creek

For the tributary of the Sacramento River in Butte County, California, see Butte Creek (Butte County, California).
Little Butte Creek
The north fork of Little Butte Creek
Little Butte Creek is located in Oregon
Little Butte Creek
Location of the mouth of Little Butte Creek in Oregon
EtymologyNamed after Snowy Butte (now Mount McLoughlin)
Location
CountryUnited States
StateOregon
CountiesJackson County, Klamath County
Physical characteristics
SourceNear Lake Creek
 • locationCascade Range, Jackson County, Oregon
 • coordinates42°25′11″N 122°37′08″W / 42.41972°N 122.61889°W / 42.41972; -122.61889[a]
 • elevation1,647 ft (502 m)[a]
MouthRogue River
 • location
about 3 miles (4.8 km) southwest of Eagle Point, Jackson County, Oregon
 • coordinates
42°27′03″N 122°52′47″W / 42.45083°N 122.87972°W / 42.45083; -122.87972[1]
 • elevation
1,204 ft (367 m)[1]
Length17 mi (27 km)[3]
Basin size373 sq mi (970 km2)[4][5]
Discharge 
 • locationbelow Eagle Point[b]
 • average232.3 cu ft/s (6.58 m3/s)[b]
 • minimum5.8 cu ft/s (0.16 m3/s)(June 6, 1926)[7]
 • maximum10,000 cu ft/s (280 m3/s)(January 7, 1948)[8]

Little Butte Creek is a 17-mile-long (27 km) tributary of the Rogue River in the U.S. state of Oregon. Its drainage basin consists of approximately 354 square miles (917 km2) of Jackson County and another 19 square miles (49 km2) of Klamath County. Its two forks, the North Fork and the South Fork, both begin high in the Cascade Range near Mount McLoughlin and Brown Mountain. They both flow generally west until they meet near Lake Creek. The main stem continues west, flowing through the communities of Brownsboro, Eagle Point, and White City, before finally emptying into the Rogue River about 3 miles (5 km) southwest of Eagle Point.

Little Butte Creek's watershed was originally settled by the Takelma, and possibly the Shasta tribes of Native Americans. In the Rogue River Wars of the 1850s, most of the Native Americans were either killed or forced onto Indian reservations. Early settlers named Little Butte Creek and nearby Big Butte Creek after their proximity to Mount McLoughlin, which was known as Snowy Butte. In the late 19th century, the watershed was primarily used for agriculture and lumber production. The city of Eagle Point was incorporated in 1911, and remains the only incorporated town within the watershed's boundaries.

Large amounts of water are diverted from Little Butte Creek for irrigation, water storage, and power generation. Canal systems deliver the water to nearby Howard Prairie Lake and the Klamath River watershed, Agate Lake, and the Rogue Valley.

Despite being moderately polluted, the creek is one of the best salmon-producing tributaries of the Rogue River. Coho and Chinook salmon migrate upstream each year; however, several dams hinder their progress. A fish ladder was built in 2005 to help fish swim past a dam constructed in Eagle Point in the 1880s, but was destroyed by flooding just three months later. It was rebuilt in 2008. Restoration of a 1.3-mile (2.1 km) artificially straightened section of the creek in the Denman Wildlife Area was completed in 2011.

  1. ^ a b GNIS Little Butte Creek 1980.
  2. ^ GNIS North Fork 1980; GNIS South Fork 1980.
  3. ^ TopoQuest Lakecreek Quadrangle.
  4. ^ Little Butte Creek Watershed Council 2003.
  5. ^ USBR & October 2009.
  6. ^ USGS 14348000 Surface-Water.
  7. ^ USGS 14348000 Water Data.
  8. ^ USGS 14348000 Peak Streamflow.


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).