The
Rogue River (
Tolowa: yan-shuu-chit’ taa-ghii~-li~’) in southwestern
Oregon in the United States flows about in a generally westward direction from the
Cascade Range to the
Pacific Ocean. Known for its
salmon runs,
whitewater rafting, and rugged scenery, it was one of the original eight rivers named in the
Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968. Beginning near
Crater Lake, which occupies the
caldera left by the explosive volcanic eruption of
Mount Mazama, the river flows through the geologically young High Cascades and the older
Western Cascades, another volcanic province. Further west, the river passes through multiple exotic
terranes of the more ancient
Klamath Mountains. In the
Kalmiopsis Wilderness section of the Rogue basin are some of the world's best examples of rocks that form the Earth's
mantle. Near the mouth of the river, the only dinosaur fragments ever discovered in Oregon were found in the Otter Point Formation, along the coast of
Curry County.