page_title: Feather River
hierarchical_section_title: Feather River
caption_attribution_description: Feather River upstream from Bear River May 1962. CDFW file photo.
context_page_description: The Feather River is the principal tributary of the Sacramento River, in the Sacramento Valley of Northern California. The river's main stem is about 73 miles long. Its length to its most distant headwater tributary is just over 210 miles. The main stem Feather River begins in Lake Oroville, where its four long tributary forks join together—the South Fork, Middle Fork, North Fork, and West Branch Feather Rivers. These and other tributaries drain part of the northern Sierra Nevada, and the extreme southern Cascades, as well as a small portion of the Sacramento Valley. The total drainage basin is about 6,200 square miles, with approximately 3,604 square miles above Lake Oroville.
  The Feather River and its forks were a center of gold mining during the 19th century. Since the 1960s, the river has provided water to central and southern California, as the main source of water for the California State Water Project. Its water is also used for hydroelectricity generation. The average annual flow of the Feather River is more than 7 million acre feet.
context_section_description: The Feather River is the principal tributary of the Sacramento River, in the Sacramento Valley of Northern California. The river's main stem is about 73 miles (117 km) long. Its length to its most distant headwater tributary is just over 210 miles (340 km). The main stem Feather River begins in Lake Oroville, where its four long tributary forks join together—the South Fork, Middle Fork, North Fork, and West Branch Feather Rivers. These and other tributaries drain part of the northern Sierra Nevada, and the extreme southern Cascades, as well as a small portion of the Sacramento Valley. The total drainage basin is about 6,200 square miles (16,000 km²), with approximately 3,604 square miles (9,330 km²) above Lake Oroville.
  The Feather River and its forks were a center of gold mining during the 19th century. Since the 1960s, the river has provided water to central and southern California, as the main source of water for the California State Water Project. Its water is also used for hydroelectricity generation. The average annual flow of the Feather River is more than 7 million acre feet (3.3 km³).
  The Feather is unique in that two of its tributaries, the East Branch and Middle Fork, originate east of the Sierra Nevada in the Diamond Mountains and breach the crest of the Sierra as they flow west.
caption: The Feather River near its confluence with the Bear River
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