Middle Fork Willamette Watershed
GIS Analysis and Mapping Pages
May, 2002
Base Maps:
The Middle Fork Willamette watershed occupies 1,353 square miles,
or 29% of Lane County, Oregon.
It is the second largest watershed in the Willamette Basin.
The headwater streams for MFW watershed drain the snowfields and glaciers
of the Cascades. Waldo Lake, at 5,414' elevation, in the eastern portion
of the watershed, is one of the purest lakes in the world.
The tallest peak in the watershed is Diamond Peak, 8744'.
Thirteen Fifth-Field Watersheds are within MFW watershed:
This Watershed Assessment Work is concentrating on the lower three fifth-field watersheds:
The best maps for exploring the region are USGS topo maps.
Paper maps are available at many bookstores and recreational outlets.
Digital maps, also known as DRG's, can be downloaded from The Regional Ecosystem Office
Significant mountains in the Lower MFW watershed include:
Little Cowhorn Mountain, elevation 4236', at the eastern edge of Little Fall Creek drainage.
Mt June, elevation 4618',at the southern tip of the Lost Creek drainage.
Mt Pisgah, elevation 1528', on the western edge of the Lower MFW drainage.
The elevation at the confluence of the Middle Fork and the Coast Fork, which creates the mainstem Willamette River, is 580'.
In Oregon, it generally snows above 4200' and rains below 1500'. In the transition zone between these two, havoc is created when a cold front drops a bunch of snow which is followed by the Pineapple Express which pours rain on top of the snow causing it to melt quickly. Nearly 50% of the Lower MFW is in this transition zone, depicted here as icy blue:
Continue on to the Final Assessment report maps
For more information, send a note to jpreed@epud.net
Copyright (c) 2002
Jim Reed, Ph.D.
The HydroLogic Group
Mapping, GIS Analysis and Web page development
All rights reserved.
November 2002.
This page is http://www.epud.net/~jpreed/mfw.htm