Calawah River

Calawah River
Calawah River, looking upstream from the US Highway 101 bridge
Location
Country	United States
State	Washington
Region	Clallam County, Washington
Physical characteristics
Source	Olympic Mountains
• location	Olympic Peninsula
• coordinates	47°58′14″N 124°20′03″W
Mouth	Bogachiel River
• coordinates	47°55′58″N 124°26′51″W
• elevation	26 ft (7.9 m)
Length	31 mi (50 km)
Basin size	160 sq mi (410 km^2)
Discharge
• location	USGS gage 12043000 at river mile 6.6, near Forks, WA[1]
• average	1,048 cu ft/s (29.7 m^3/s)[1]
• minimum	15 cu ft/s (0.42 m^3/s)
• maximum	38,100 cu ft/s (1,080 m^3/s)
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	South Fork Calawah River
• right	North Fork Calawah River

The Calawah River is a 31 mi (50 km)[2] tributary of the Bogachiel River in Clallam County in the U.S. state of Washington, on its Olympic Peninsula.[3] Its two major tributaries are the South and North Forks Calawah River.[4] The river drains an unpopulated portion of the low foothills of the Olympic Mountains; its entire watershed consists of virgin forest.[5] The river drains 129 square miles (330 km^2) above U.S. Highway 101, which crosses the river about 6.6 miles (10.6 km) upstream of its mouth.[6]

The river's name comes from the Quileute word qàló?wa:, meaning "in between",[7] or "middle river".[8]

The highway 101 bridge over the Calawah River, near Forks, Washington

See also

• List of rivers of Washington (state)
• Quillayute River
• Sol Duc River

References

1. "Water-Data Report 2008, 12043000 Calawah River near Forks, WA" (PDF). USGS. Retrieved 5 August 2009.
2. "Physical characteristics of selected rivers draining the Olympic Peninsula, Washington". Archived from the original on 2009-05-13. Retrieved 2009-08-03.
3. Landes, Henry (1917). Bulletin. Washington Geological Survey, p. 88
4. "Calawah River". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2009-07-27.
5. Wood, Robert (2000). Olympic Mountains Trail Guide: National Park and National Forest. The Mountaineers Books. ISBN 0-89886-618-9, p. 310
6. "Calawah River Streamflow for Forks, Washington". National Water Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2009-07-27.
7. Bright, William (2007). Native American placenames of the United States. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 76. ISBN 978-0-8061-3598-4.
8. Parratt, Smitty (1984). Gods & goblins: A Field Guide to Place Names of Olympic National Park. CP Publications. p. 18. ISBN 0-914195-00-X.