page_title: Latah Creek
section_title: Course
hierarchical_section_title: Latah Creek / Course
caption_attribution_description: English: The Sunset Highway, Interstate 90 and railroad bridges over Latah Creek, as seen from just downstream. High Bridge Park lies on the opposite side of the water as where the photo was taken. September 2012.
context_page_description: Latah Creek, also known as Hangman Creek, is a large stream in eastern Washington and north central Idaho in the United States. The creek flows northwest from the Rocky Mountains to Spokane, where it empties into the Spokane River. It drains 673 square miles in parts of Benewah and Kootenai counties in Idaho, Spokane County and a small portion of Whitman County in Washington, where over 64 percent of its watershed resides. Some major tributaries of the approximately 60-mile creek include Little Latah Creek and Rock Creek. The average flow of the creek can range from 20 cubic feet per second to 20,000 cubic feet per second. Latah Creek receives its name from a Nez Perce word likely meaning "fish". In 1854, the creek received another name, Hangman Creek, from a war between the Palouse Indians and white soldiers, which resulted in several Palouse being hanged alongside the creek.
  The Latah Creek watershed is dominated by agriculture, which has diverted the creek and its tributaries for irrigation. This has caused the ruin of forests, riparian zones, and natural flow patterns.
context_section_description: Latah Creek begins east of the town of Sanders, in Benewah County, Idaho. The headwaters of the creek are in a small valley south of Charles Butte and Moses Mountain. A few miles after its headwaters, it receives the South Fork Latah Creek, which flows north. At the confluence, the creek turns north, flowing past the towns of Sanders and De Smet, entering channeled scablands that have been converted to farmland. Still small, it runs northwest in a vegetation-choked gully for several miles, beginning to parallel Latah Creek Road. The creek then crosses the Idaho-Washington state border and flows through Tekoa, where it is channelized and runs due north for a short distance. At this point, it has already picked up much agricultural runoff. At Tekoa, it also receives a large tributary, Little Latah Creek.
  After meeting Little Latah Creek, Latah Creek continues northwards along State Route 27 to the town of Latah, named for the creek. At Latah, it receives a short tributary, Cove Creek, on the right bank. The creek then bends west and runs north, then swings west again to run near the town of Waverly, and north to pass the town of West Fairfield. (SR 27 breaks away from the creek before Waverly to run to the town of Fairfield.)  The creek then enters a steadily deepening, winding gorge that runs generally northwest. It then receives another large tributary, Rock Creek, on the right bank.
  After having received Rock Creek, Latah Creek receives California Creek, a 8-mile (13 km), west-southwest tributary, also on the right bank. In its final few miles, California Creek also plunges down a narrow gorge into the Latah Creek canyon. Latah Creek then continues north, and begins to parallel U.S. Highway 195 as it winds through a widening gorge towards the urban area of Spokane, which occupies the plain to the east of the Latah Creek gorge. As Highway 195 continues to parallel it on the left, High Drive winds along the canyon rim on the east (right) bank. With high bluffs rising on the east side and lower cliffs on the west, the creek receives Marshall Creek on the left bank, and its second-last named tributary, Spring Creek, also on the left bank, and crosses under bridges for U.S. Highway 395, a railroad, and Sunset Boulevard. Its last named tributary, Indian Canyon Creek, enters on the left bank as the creek turns northeast to join the Spokane River. The creek's mouth is on the left bank of the Spokane, not too far downstream from Spokane Falls.
caption: Sunset Highway and I-90 Crossing Latah Creek in Spokane.
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