Skipanon River

The Skipanon River is a tributary of the Columbia River, approximately 7 miles (11 km) long, on the Pacific coast of northwest Oregon in the United States. It is the last tributary of the Columbia on the Oregon side, draining an area of coastal bottom land bordered by sand dunes and entering the river from the south at its mouth west of Astoria.

Skipanon River
Location of the mouth of Skipanon River in Oregon
EtymologyA Clatsop Indian word, Skippernawin referred to a point at the mouth of the stream[1]
Location
CountryUnited States
StateOregon
CountyClatsop County
Physical characteristics
SourceN. Oregon coastal foothills & Cullaby Lake
 • locationClatsop County, Oregon
 • coordinates46°05′39″N 123°54′32″W[2]
 • elevation50 ft (15 m)[3]
MouthColumbia River
 • location
Warrenton, Clatsop County, Oregon
 • coordinates
46°10′9″N 123°55′37″W[2]
 • elevation
.5 ft (0.15 m)[2]
Length7 mi (11 km)

The Skipanon River issues from Cullaby Lake in western Clatsop County, northeast of Seaside and less than 3 miles (4.8 km) from the ocean. It flows north parallel to the coast and east of U.S. Route 101. It enters the northwest end of Youngs Bay at the mouth of the Columbia approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) northeast of Warrenton. The mouth of the river is at river mile 10.7 miles (17.2 km) of the Columbia upstream from its mouth.

The river's name comes from the Clatsop language, originally referring to a point at the river's mouth rather than the river itself. The charts of the Lewis and Clark Expedition show the stream as Skipanarwin Creek. Another variant spelling, Skeppernawin, was common on maps into the 20th century.[1]

See also

References
  1. McArthur, Lewis A.; McArthur, Lewis L. (2003) [1928]. Oregon Geographic Names (7th ed.). Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society Press. p. 773. ISBN 978-0875952772.
  2. "Skipanon River". Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). United States Geological Survey. November 28, 1980. Retrieved August 16, 2009.
  3. Source elevation derived from Google Earth search using GNIS source coordinates.
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