Raft River

The Raft River is a 108-mile-long (174 km)tributary of the Snake River located in northern Utah and southern Idaho in the United States. It is part of the Columbia River Basin.

Course

The Raft River's headwaters are mostly on the east side of the Albion Mountains, southeast of Oakley, Idaho. But its Clear Creek tributary also drains the north side of the Raft River Mountains in Utah, and runoff from the nearby Grouse Creek Range also flows into the Raft River. Portions of the Black Pine and Sublett mountains are also in the river's watershed. The river flows generally north to join the Snake River in Cassia County, Idaho.

Watershed

The Raft River's drainage basin includes four divisions of Sawtooth National Forest, and is approximately 1,506 square miles (3,901 km²) in area, of which approximately 95% of the overall area is in Idaho.

History

The river is named after a crossing of the Oregon Trail where pioneers built rafts out of whatever was available to aid in crossing the river. The river is dry for much of the year.

Raft River (British Columbia)

The Raft River is a tributary of the North Thompson River, one of the main tributaries of the Fraser River, in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It flows through the Shuswap Highland region southeast of Wells Gray Provincial Park. Most of the Raft River's watershed lies outside the boundaries of Wells Gray, except for some of the headwaters of the West Raft River tributary.

Course

The Raft River originates in the Columbia Mountains between Wells Gray Provincial Park and the North Thompson River, south of the Blue River and southwest of the town of Blue River. It flows generally south through the Shuswap Highland to join the North Thompson River just east of Clearwater.

As the Raft River flows south it is joined by tributaries such as Richie Creek, Stratton Creek, Maxwell Creek, West Raft River, Blowhole Creek, Moilliet Creek, McCorvie Creek, and Willis Creek.

See also

References