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The Sacramento River forms the western boundary of Sutter County. It is 447 miles long, making it the longest river that is entirely within California. It drains from three separate forks (north, middle, and south) near Mount Shasta in the Cascade Mountain Range and flows south through the Sacramento Valley. Its four main tributaries are the Pit River and McCloud River, which both flow into it at Lake Shasta near Redding; the Feather River, which flows into it at Verona; and the American River, which flows into it at Sacramento. The Sacramento River meets the San Joaquin River near Antioch, and together they form the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, which empties into Suisun Bay, the northern arm of the San Francisco Bay.

Smaller tributaries of the Sacramento River in Sutter County include Butte Creek, Cross Canal, Natomas East Main Drainage Canal, North Drainage Canal, and Sacramento Slough.

It has been said that the Sacramento River, at least at one time, was used for the shipment of more products than any other river in the world.1

Places

Parks and Marinas

Landings

Bends

Other Places

Wildlife

Every year in October, California's native chinook salmon return to the river from the Pacific Ocean and migrate to spawning grounds upstream. Yearly salmon runs can stretch all the way through December. The winter-run chinook salmon is a federal and state endangered species. Other runs of chinook salmon also spawn in the Sacramento River, and the populations of all of them are declining. American shad, bass, Rainbow trout, and various sturgeon also spawn in the Sacramento River.2

On the riverbanks, rare populations of Swainson's hawk and bank swallow can be seen nesting, while rare willow flycatcher populations migrate seasonally.3

Recreation

History

The Sacramento River used to be navigable as far north as Red Bluff. Due to the 96,000,000 cubic yards4 of mine tailings that were dumped into the river and its many tributaries from hydraulic mining during the Gold Rush, which raised the riverbed substantially, the river is no longer navigable north of Colusa. These mine tailings also caused the river to flood Sacramento repeatedly in the 1870s, until steps were taken to better protect Sacramento from flooding.

Links

Sacramento River entry on Wikipedia Sacramento River entry on ChicoWiki Sacramento River entry on SacWiki Sacramento River Portal and Library Water Quality in the Sacramento River Basin Sacramento River Recreation Directory Websites on paddleboating, conservation, fishing, camping & hiking in and around the Sacramento River watershed, colected by Bruce R. Thomas Sacramento River Paddlesports Guide Kayaking, rafting, canoeing & innertubing on the Sacramento River, collected by Bruce R. Thomas Sacramento River Fishing Report by J. D. Richey

Footnotes

1. Memories: My Seventy-Two Years in the Romantic County of Yuba, California by W. T. Ellis, Jr. Eugene: University of Oregon, 1939
2. Sutter County General Plan § 9.8 Biological Resources, 1994
3. Sutter County General Plan § 9.8 Biological Resources, 1994
4. Memories: My Seventy-Two Years in the Romantic County of Yuba, California by W. T. Ellis, Jr. Eugene: University of Oregon, 1939

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