Wilson River (Oregon)
Template:Other places3 Template:Use American English Template:Infobox river The Wilson River, about Template:Convert long, flows from the Northern Oregon Coast Range to Tillamook Bay in the U.S. state of Oregon. Formed by the confluence of its Devil's Lake Fork and its South Fork, it runs generally west through the Tillamook State Forest to its mouth near the city of Tillamook.<ref name="topoquest multiple quads">Template:Cite web The maps include river mile (RM) markers from the river's mouth to its source near Elk Creek Campground.</ref><ref name="DeLorme">Template:Cite map</ref> It is one of five rivers—the Tillamook, the Trask, the Wilson, the Kilchis, and the Miami—that flow into the bay.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Course
The river rises in the Tillamook State Forest in the mountains of northeastern Tillamook County. The river's North Fork rises in northern Tillamook County and flows south. Its South Fork rises in eastern Tillamook County and western Washington County<ref>Template:Cite gnis</ref> and flows west to merge with Devils Lake Fork. Further downstream, the Wilson River receives the North Fork near Lees Camp. It then flows southwest to Tillamook, entering the southeast end of Tillamook Bay about Template:Convert northwest of the city. The mouth of the river is about Template:Convert north of the mouth of the Trask River and slightly south of the mouth of the Kilchis River. Oregon Route 6, also known as the Wilson River Highway, runs parallel to the river and links the Tualatin Valley and the Portland metropolitan area with the Oregon Coast.<ref name="topoquest multiple quads"/><ref name="DeLorme"/>
Discharge
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) monitors the flow of the Wilson River at a stream gauge Template:Convert from the mouth of the river. The average flow at this gauge is Template:Convert. This is from a drainage area of Template:Convert, about 83 percent of the total Wilson River watershed. The maximum flow recorded there was Template:Convert on November 6, 2006, and the minimum flow was Template:Convert on September 5, 1973, although it might have been less for a short while after a landslide on January 31, 1965.<ref name="discharge"/>
Floods
The Wilson River was part of the Willamette Valley flood of 1996 when it rose to 19.51 inches on February 8, damaging roads and farms and houses in Tillamook. Since then it has risen to its highest recorded reading of 22.84 inches on November 7, 2006.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Fishing
According to Fishing Oregon: An Angler's Guide to Oregon, the Wilson River is "one of the state's best steelhead and Chinook salmon fisheries".<ref name = "Yuskavitach">Template:Cite book</ref> Spring Chinook average about Template:Convert, fall Chinook from Template:Convert, and Steelhead from Template:Convert.<ref name = "Yuskavitach"/> County-owned boat launches on the lower reaches and public access via Route 6 through the Tillamook State Forest make the river easily accessible to anglers. State regulations govern the seasons and methods of fishing.<ref name = "Yuskavitach"/>