North Fork Feather River

North Fork Feather River
River
300px Milsap Bar crossing on the North Fork Feather River.[1]
Country	United States
State	California
Region	North Fork Feather Watershed 1,090 sq mi (2,800 km2), including the West Fork but not East Branch Watershed
Source confluence	Rice Creek (Feather River) & South Arm Rice Creek
- location	Feather River Meadows
Mouth	Lake Oroville, North ArmA
Length	70 mi (113 km)
Basin	2,100 sq mi (5,439 km2)
Discharge	for mouth at north arm, Lake Oroville; max and min at Pulga
- average	2,930 cu ft/s (83 m3/s)
- max	105,400 cu ft/s (2,985 m3/s)
- min	5.4 cu ft/s (0 m3/s)
GNIS code Huc	264163 18020121
APrior to Oroville Dam construction, the North Fork flowed to its former mouth in the current lake's Main Basin.

The North Fork Feather River is a watercourse of the northern Sierra Nevada in the U.S. state of California. It flows generally southwards from its headwaters near Lassen Peak to Lake Oroville, a reservoir formed by Oroville Dam in the foothills of the Sierra, where it runs into the Feather River. The river drains about 2,100 square miles (5,400 km²) of the western slope of the Sierras. By discharge, it is the largest tributary of the Feather.

It rises at the confluence of Rice Creek and a smaller unnamed stream in the southern part of the Lassen Volcanic National Park. The river flows east, receiving Warner Creek from the left, and passes the town of Chester. It then empties into Lake Almanor, which is formed by the Canyon Dam. After leaving the dam the river cuts south into a gorge, and turns southwest to receive Butt Creek from the right. The East Branch North Fork Feather River, the North Fork's largest tributary, comes in from the left near Belden, where the river is impounded again at the Rock Creek Dam. It then flows southwards, through several hydroelectric dams, into the north arm of Lake Oroville.

The fork's portion of the Feather River Canyon is notable as part of the Feather River Route, and the railroad's North Fork Bridge near the river's mouth is the longest reinforced concrete bridge in the US.

The North Fork is heavily developed for hydroelectricity generation and is impounded by five dams, as part of three hydroelectric projects – the Upper North Fork Feather River Project, the Rock Creek-Cresta Hydroelectric Project and the Poe Hydroelectric Project. The system is so extensive that it has been dubbed the "Stairway of Power".

Kings Creek (foreground) headwaters flow >11 mi (18 km) from the SE slope of Lassen Peak (background), >7 mi (11 km) in Warner Creek, and >63 mi (101 km) in the North Fork to Lake Oroville's northern arm.

A railroad trestle and CA 70 over the North Fork in the Feather River Canyon

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North Fork Feather Watershed

The North Fork Feather Watershed (USGS Huc 18020121) extends from the North Fork headwaters south-southwest to the [http://cfpub.epa.gov/surf/huc.cfm?huc_code=18020106 Lower Feather Watershed. The headwaters are in the Shasta Cascades and the northern Sierras along the Pit River and Eagle-Honey watersheds. The drainage divide for the headwaters begins in Shasta County at the Lassen Peak quadruple watershed point of East Sulpher Creek (Mill-Big Chico), Manzanita Creek (Upper Cow-Battle watershed), Lost Creek (Lower Pit River), and Kings Creek (North Fork Feather). The headwater divide extends in an arc east to Lassen County, then to the Great Basin Divide triple point of the Feather, Pit, and Susan Rivers. The divide arcs southeast to Pegleg Mountain and along 13 mi (21 km) of the Sierra Crest to the triple point with the East Branch North Fork Feather River on the east slope of Indicator Peak ().

For a list of Sierra Nevada (U.S.) headwater creeks that drain to the North Fork, see Sierra Crest.

Downstream of Shasta and Lassen counties, the majority of the North Fork Feather Watershed area is in Plumas County. The west divide of the watershed is along the Mill-Big Chico Watershed, southward to the West Branch Feather River triple point. The southeast divide of the North Fork Feather Watershed is the watershed of the East Branch to the triple point with the Middle Fork Feather River.

The lowest elevations of the North Fork Feather Watershed are in Butte County, with the emergency weir crest at 901 ft (275 m) and, at average storage capacity, the Lake Oroville level of 812 ft (247 m) .

North Fork Feather River course,
including associated Lake Oroville points
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

	description	coordinates
headpoint	summit SSE of Mount Helen
Rice Creek	confluence, headwaters w/ Rice Cr
	inflow to Crumbaugh Lake	40.447829 121.488361
	border, Shasta/Plumas counties
	border, Stump Ranch Marsh Area
	confluence, South Arm Rice Creek
North Fork	source, North Fork
	confluence, flow from Buzzard Sprs	40.354884 121.366396
	confluence, Warner Creek	40.333133 121.306529
	diversion channel W of Lake Almanor	40.302538 121.263914
	road, CA 36 N of Chester	40.310753 121.228638
	inflow to Lake Almanor	40.303225 121.212373
	Canyon Dam	40.174578 121.087017
	confluence, Bear Creek	40.107487 121.080408
	dam, Belden ForeBay	40.076167 121.160789
	confluence, Mosquito Creek	40.060731 121.200657
North Fork in Feather River Canyon	confluence, East Branch
	confluence, Indian Creek	40.005068 121.264
	dam, Rock Creek Reservoir	39.986919 121.28314
	confluence, Rock Creek	39.899959 121.359487
	confluence, Jackass Creek	39.937283 121.316013
	road, Rock Creek Camp	39.925535 121.316013
	road, CA 70	39.918031 121.321507
	confluence, Bucks Creek	39.91418 121.326742
	dam, Cresta Reservoir	39.876118 121.373477
	confluence, Mill Creek	39.805008 121.440425
	confluence, Flea Valley Creek	39.802107 121.446948
North Fork	road, 1932 arch bridge (CA 70)	39.79482 121.451669
	railroad, trestles S of CA 70	39.7948 121.451669
	dam, Poe Reservoir
	border, Plumas/Butte counties
	mouth, North Fork (912 ft elevation)
Lake Oroville, North Arm	railroad, 1962 North Fork Bridge	39.716529 121.470551
	confluence, Rock Creek	39.716034 121.455402
	border, Lassen NF	39.71336 121.468663
	confluence, Chino Creek	39.719005 121.422701
	confluence, Mosquito Creek	39.69705 121.406007
	confluence, W of Stephens Ridge	39.688101 121.400127
	confluences, Berry & Frazier creeks	39.670166 121.431456
	confluence, West Arm	39.666499 121.496773
	former town, Big Ripple
	former town, Bloomer
	mouth, lower North Arm
Lake Oroville, Main Basin	inflow, lake's Main Basin
	landing area for seaplane base
	former town, Bidwell
	former mouth,A North F w/ Feather R
	former town, Land	)
	intake (main), Hyatt powerplant
Oroville Dam	road on crest (900 ft elevation)
	downstream dam face (702 ft)
	diversion, Palermo Canal (505 ft)
	road, Oro Powerhouse (360 ft)
Feather River	source, downstream of dam
	former community, Quartz
	confluence, Oroville Spillway

For river points downstream of the spillway confluence (e.g., the Oroville Wildlife Area border), see Feather River.