Little North Santiam River
| Little North Santiam River | |
|---|---|
Salmon Falls on the Little North Santiam River. | |
| Etymology | For the Santiam people, a Kalapuya tribe that lived near the Santiam River until removal to the Grande Ronde Reservation in 1906. |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Oregon |
| County | Marion |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | confluence of Battle Ax and Opal creeks |
| • location | Cascade Range |
| • coordinates | 44°50′48″N 122°12′33″W / 44.84667°N 122.20917°W |
| • elevation | 2,085 ft (636 m) |
| Mouth | North Santiam River |
• location | near Mehama |
• coordinates | 44°47′05″N 122°36′30″W / 44.78472°N 122.60833°W |
• elevation | 619 ft (189 m) |
| Length | 27 mi (43 km) |
| Basin size | 113 sq mi (290 km2) |
| Discharge | |
| • average | 746 cu ft/s (21.1 m3/s) |
The Little North Santiam River is a 27-mile (43 km) tributary of the North Santiam River in western Oregon in the United States. It drains 113 square miles (290 km2) of the Cascade Range on the eastern side of the Willamette Valley east of Salem.
The river begins in the Opal Creek Wilderness at the confluence of Battle Ax and Opal creeks in Willamette National Forest and flows generally west-southwest through forests within Marion County to meet the larger river near Mehama. North Fork Road runs along the stream's lower reaches until it meets Forest Road 2209, which continues upstream to Opal Creek Trailhead.
Named tributaries from source to mouth are Opal, Battle Ax, Gold, Horn, Tincup, Cold, Stack, Cedar, and Little Cedar creeks. Then come Dry, Henline, Evans, Fawn, Elkhorn, Fish, Sinker, Moorehouse, and Big creeks. Further downstream are Cougar, Bear, Canyon, Kiel, Beaver, Jeeter, Cox, and Polly creeks.