Skykomish River

The Skykomish River is a Washington river which drains the west side of the Cascade Mountains in the southeast section of Snohomish County and the... more

by Calazone's Flics

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Skykomish River

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Calazone's Flics

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Photograph

Description

The Skykomish River is a Washington river which drains the west side of the Cascade Mountains in the southeast section of Snohomish County and the northeast corner of King County. The river starts with the confluence of the North Fork Skykomish River and South Fork Skykomish River approximately one mile west of Index, then flowing northwesterly towards Puget Sound. It is joined by the Sultan River and the Wallace River at Sultan. It then meets the Snoqualmie River to form the Snohomish River at Monroe. The Snohomish River continues along the river valley eventually dumping into Port Gardner Bay on Possession Sound (part of Puget Sound).

The Skykomish River's main stem is 29 miles (47 km) long. The length including its headwater tributaries, South Fork Skykomish and Tye River, is 62.4 miles (100 km). The Skykomish's drainage basin is 834 square miles (2,160 km2) in area.

U.S. Highway 2 and the BNSF Railway are routed to follow the Skykomish River, South Fork Skykomish, and Tye River to Stevens Pass and the Cascade Tunnel.

The Skykomish is sometimes referred to by the nickname "Sky River" or "The Sky".

According to Fred Beckey the North Fork and South Fork are about equal in size and neither is clearly the main course of the Skykomish River. However, the South Fork's true source, in terms of streamflow, is the Rapid River, a tributary of the Beckler River, which in turn is a tributary of the South Fork Skykomish.

The name "Skykomish" comes from the Northern Lushootseed word /sq'�#695;əb�/, meaning "upriver people", from /q'�#695;/, "upstream". It is the name of a Southern Coast Salish group.

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August 29th, 2015