North Fork Payette River | |
Map: | Payette river basin.png |
Map Size: | 240 |
Subdivision Type1: | Country |
Subdivision Name1: | United States |
Subdivision Type2: | State |
Subdivision Name2: | Idaho |
Subdivision Type3: | Region |
Subdivision Name3: | Valley County, Boise County |
Subdivision Type5: | Cities |
Subdivision Name5: | McCall, Cascade, Banks |
Length: | 113miles, North-south[1] |
Discharge1 Location: | Banks, ID[2] |
Discharge1 Min: | 36cuft/s |
Discharge1 Avg: | 1299cuft/s[3] |
Discharge1 Max: | 8830cuft/s |
Source1: | Confluence of Trail Creek and Cloochman Creek |
Source1 Location: | Northwest of Diamond Ridge, Valley County |
Source1 Coordinates: | 45.1797°N -115.9936°W[4] |
Source1 Elevation: | 6083feet |
Mouth: | Payette River |
Mouth Location: | Banks, Boise County |
Mouth Coordinates: | 44.085°N -116.1158°W |
Mouth Elevation: | 2825feet |
River System: | Snake River watershed |
Basin Size: | 912sqmi[5] |
Tributaries Left: | Lake Fork (Idaho), Clear Creek (Idaho), Round Valley Creek |
The North Fork Payette River is a river in the western United States in western Idaho. It flows about southwards from the Salmon River Mountains to near Banks, where it empties into the Payette River, a tributary of the Snake River. It drains a watershed of 912mi2, consisting of mountains and forests, and valleys filled with large lakes and wetlands.
It rises at the confluence of Trail Creek and Cloochman Creek, in a meadow in the Payette National Forest in Valley County. The river flows south into Upper Payette Lake, then further south through a narrow valley into Payette Lake, with a surface elevation of 4990feet above sea level. The river exits from the southwestern corner of the lake at McCall and flows southwards through Long Valley into Lake Cascade, a large reservoir formed by Cascade Dam. The Lake Fork and Gold Fork rivers join from the north and east sides of the lake.[6]
About 5miles below the Cascade Dam and the town of Cascade, the North Fork reaches the end of Long Valley and enters a narrow canyon along the western side of the North Fork Range in the Boise National Forest. Paralleled by State Highway 55, it crosses into Boise County, where the canyon's depth exceeds 2500feet.
The North Fork joins with the Payette River at Banks (2825feet). From there, the Payette River flows further west to its confluence with the Snake River at Payette, just northeast of Ontario, Oregon.[6]