Pit River

Pit River
Waterfalls on the Pit River near Fall River Mills
Map of the Pit River drainage basin, with the historically connected Goose Lake drainage basin indicated in orange.[1]
Etymology	Achomawi pitfall traps[2]
Location
Country	United States
State	California
District	Modoc, Lassen, & Shasta counties
Physical characteristics
Source	Confluence of North and South Forks
• location	Near Alturas, Modoc County
• coordinates	41°28′23″N 120°33′28″W / 41.47306°N 120.55778°W / 41.47306; -120.55778[3]
• elevation	4,350 ft (1,330 m)
Mouth	Sacramento River
• location	Shasta Lake, Shasta County
• coordinates	40°45′23″N 122°22′14″W / 40.75639°N 122.37056°W / 40.75639; -122.37056[3]
• elevation	1,066 ft (325 m)
Length	207 mi (333 km)[4]
Basin size	7,064 sq mi (18,300 km2)[5]: a
Discharge
• location	Montgomery Creek, above Shasta Lake[6]
• average	4,786 cu ft/s (135.5 m3/s)[6]
• minimum	30 cu ft/s (0.85 m3/s)
• maximum	73,000 cu ft/s (2,100 m3/s)
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	Ash Creek
• right	Squaw Creek, McCloud River

The Pit River is a major river draining from northeastern California into the state's Central Valley.^[3] The Pit, the Klamath and the Columbia are the only three rivers in the U.S. that cross the Cascade Range.

The longest tributary of the Sacramento River, it contributes as much as eighty percent of their combined water volume into the Shasta Lake reservoir; the junction of their Shasta Lake arms is 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Shasta Dam. The main stem of the Pit River is 207 miles (333 km) long,^[4] and some water in the system flows 265 miles (426 km) to the Sacramento River measuring from the Pit River's longest source.^[7][8]

The Pit River drains a sparsely populated volcanic highlands area in Modoc County's Warner Mountains, passing through the south end of the Cascade Range in a deep canyon northeast of Redding. The river is so named because of the semi-subterranean permanent winter homes and large 'sweat houses' that the Pit River Tribe dug,^[9] and their pit traps for game that came to water at the river.^[10]

The river is a popular destination for fishing, fly fishing, and rafting in its lower reaches, and is used to generate hydroelectricity in the powerhouses below Fall River Mills where the Pit and Fall rivers join, and at Shasta Dam. It is also used extensively for irrigation and conservation purposes.