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Deschutes River | |
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![]() Tumwater Falls of the Deschutes River, in the city of Tumwater | |
Location | |
Country | United States |
State | Washington |
County | Thurston, Lewis |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | Cascade Range |
• coordinates | 46°41′0″N 122°26′17″W / 46.68333°N 122.43806°W[1] |
Mouth | Puget Sound |
• coordinates | 47°1′6″N 122°54′13″W / 47.01833°N 122.90361°W[1] |
Length | 50 mi (80 km) |
Basin size | 162 sq mi (420 km2)[2] |
Discharge | |
• location | river mile 2.4 at Tumwater[2] |
• average | 396 cu ft/s (11.2 m3/s)[2] |
• minimum | 48 cu ft/s (1.4 m3/s) |
• maximum | 8,150 cu ft/s (231 m3/s) |
The Deschutes River is a 50-mile-long (80 km) river in the U.S. state of Washington. Its headwaters are in the Bald Hills in Lewis County, and it empties into Budd Inlet of Puget Sound at Olympia in Thurston County. It was given its name by French fur traders, who called it Rivière des Chutes, or "River of the Falls", a translation of the First Nations name for the site. (The city of Tumwater, founded in the same location, takes its name from the Chinook Jargon translation for "waterfall".)
Tributaries of the river include Spurgeon Creek, Thurston Creek and Lake Lawrence.[3]