Quinn River
Queen River
The Quinn River basin extends into Oregon from Nevada.
Location
CountryUnited States
StateNevada
Physical characteristics
SourceW side of the Santa Rosa Range in NE Humboldt Co
 • locationnear Oregon state line
 • coordinates41°58′26″N 117°34′8″W / 41.97389°N 117.56889°W / 41.97389; -117.56889
 • elevation3,060 ft (930 m)
Mouth 
 • coordinates
40°52′59″N 119°03′50″W / 40.88306°N 119.06389°W / 40.88306; -119.06389
Length110 mi (180 km)
Basin size6,720 sq mi (17,400 km2)[1]
Discharge 
 • locationQuinn River Sink, ~60 miles (97 km) northwest of Winnemucca, Nevada(evaporation)
 • average0 cu ft/s (0 m3/s)
Basin features
Tributaries 
 • leftEast Fork
source: 41°51′03″N 117°27′58″W / 41.850723°N 117.466245°W / 41.850723; -117.466245
confluence: 41°58′26″N 117°34′09″W / 41.973777°N 117.569305°W / 41.973777; -117.569305, South Fork
source: 41°51′06″N 117°28′32″W / 41.851556°N 117.475689°W / 41.851556; -117.475689
confluence: 41°58′25″N 117°34′08″W / 41.973499°N 117.569027°W / 41.973499; -117.569027
 • rightKings River

The Quinn River, once known as the Queen River, is an intermittent river, approximately 110 miles (180 km) long, in the desert of northwestern Nevada in the United States. It drains an enclosed basin inside the larger Great Basin.

It rises in northeastern Humboldt County, on the west side of the Santa Rosa Range, just south of the Oregon state line. Its course flows southwest, through the main Nevada lands of the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribes and then south and southwest, receiving the Kings River flowing south from Kings River Valley. The Quinn River evaporates in a sink at the Black Rock Desert,[2] south of the Black Rock Range.

Catchment

The Quinn River is the largest river in the region, starting in the Santa Rosa Range and ending in the Quinn River Sink on the playa south of the Black Rock Range. The watershed covers 11,600 sq mi (30,000 km2)[1] including the Upper and Lower Quinn River, Smoke Creek Desert, Massacre Lake, and Thousand Creek[3]/Virgin Valley[4] watersheds of northwestern Nevada as well as small parts across the borders of California and Oregon.

Quinn River Sink

The Quinn River Sink is the mouth of the Quinn River[5] and is a geographic sink of around 3 square miles (7.8 km2), where the Quinn River discharges and evaporates about 2.75 miles (4.43 km) south-southwest of Black Rock Hot Springs.[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Boundary Descriptions and Names of Regions, Subregions, Accounting Units and Cataloging Units, United States Geological Survey, April 2, 2007, retrieved 2008-01-11
  2. ^ Federal Writers' Project (1941). Origin of Place Names: Nevada (PDF). W.P.A. p. 38.
  3. ^ "Thousand Creek". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2008-01-13.
  4. ^ "Virgin Valley". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2008-01-13.
  5. ^ "General Information". Friends of the Black Rock. Retrieved 2010-11-24.
  6. ^ Black Rock Desert-High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails NCA (Map). BLM.gov. Archived from the original on 2008-10-12.
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