In as much as I had covered most of the Klamath River, I received a few questions about where all that water actually comes from. Actually, Klamath Lake is the start of the Klamath River. The main sources of the Klamath Lake flow into the lake some 25 miles to the north of the city of Klamath Falls. Aside from the minor tributaries, there are three main rivers that make up Klamath Lake, the largest lake in Oregon.
The three rivers are the Williamson, Sprague and the Wood.
The Williamson, the primary river, rises from a large spring in the central Klamath County area on the north side of Fuego Mountain in the Winema National Forest, about 40 miles northeast of Klamath Falls. It flows in a large arc north through the mountains, then west, then southwest through the Klamath Marsh National Wildlife Refuge. Downstream from the refuge the river flows roughly parallel to U.S. Highway 97, where Spring Creek enters at Collier State Park, about 5 miles north of Chiloquin. At Chiloquin, it receives the Sprague River 10 miles above where it enters into Klamath Lake at the northern end, near Modoc Point, about 20 miles northwest of Klamath Falls.
At times the fishing in the Williamson is fantastic. It is known for especially large wild rainbows. One-year-old fish may reach 18 inches. Three-year-old fish commonly reach 20 inches or more. Smaller numbers of husky brown trout also thrive in the Williamson, especially below Spring Creek. Then smaller rainbow trout and brook trout live in the river above the Klamath Marsh.
The Sprague River is a tributary of the Williamson River and runs about 75 miles long in southwestern Oregon. It forms from two forks approximately 35 miles northeast of Klamath Falls. The North Fork rises in southwestern Lake County in the Fremont National Forest near Gearhart Mountain. The South Fork of the Sprague River rises northeast of Quartz Mountain Pass and flows west-northwest. The main river flows west through the broad Sprague Valley, past the small towns of Bly, Beatty and Sprague River. The Sycan River runs into the Sprague River from the north at Beatty. Then 10 miles downstream, it joins the Williamson River at Chiloquin. Superb trout fishing exists in the Sprague and its tributaries.
The Wood River is a rather short river that flows 18 miles south through Fremont-Winema National Forest, Bureau of Land Management lands and private property northwest of where the Williamson enters Klamath Lake. The Wood River headwaters originate from a large natural spring in Jackson F. Kimball State Recreation Site. The aquifer that feeds the spring is believed to originate 20 miles to the northwest in the east side drainage of Crater Lake National Park. The Wood River meanders through pine fore flows into Agency Lake, a large lake attached to Upper Klamath Lake.
The Wood River has a large tributary called Anne Creek, which originates inside the boundary of Crater Lake National Park. This creek runs along the western border of the Sun Pass State Forest then joins the Wood River south of the Kimball State Recreation Site. From there the Wood River runs south through the Fremont-Winema National Forests and private pasture land, where it is joined with Fort Creek.
The Wood River habitat supports brook, brown and rainbow trout. They are widely distributed thorough the river system from the headwaters to Agency Lake. In September 1992, Congress appropriated funds for the Bureau of Land Management to purchase 3,200 acres of natural wetland on the north end of Agency Lake at the mouth of the Wood River. Since acquiring the Wood River property, The Bureau of Land Management has successfully restored the wetland area and adjacent Wood River channel to a more natural state. The channel restoration project was completed in 2001. The new channel meanders through the marsh, increasing the length of the Wood River. The project improved the water quality and created better habitat for the fish, birds and wildlife.
Meanwhile, back at the Williamson where it joins the big lake, since 2003, The Nature Conservancy and other organizations have restored 12 square miles of wetlands in the Williamson River delta at the north end of Upper Klamath Lake. The delta provides habitat for millions of migrating birds and waterfowl, as well as many native species of fish, mollusks and aquatic plants.