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Upper Klamath - Trinity River Chinook Salmon

Oncorhynchus tshawytscha

Fall, late-fall, and spring-run Chinook spawn and rear in the Trinity River and in the Klamath River upstream of the mouth of the Trinity River. In the Trinity River, Chinook salmon spawn in the mainstem (with their upstream distribution limited by Lewiston Dam), the north and south forks, Hayfork Creek, New River, and Canyon Creek. In the Klamath River, Chinook salmon once ascended into Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, to spawn in the major tributaries to the lake (Williamson, Sprague, and Wood Rivers), but access to this region was blocked by Copco Dam, built in 1917. Today Chinook are known to spawn in the mainstem Klamath River, Bogus Creek, Shasta River, Scott River, Indian Creek, Elk Creek, Clear Creek, Salmon River, Bluff Creek, Blue Creek, and the lower reaches of some of the other smaller tributaries to the mainstem river.

Upper Klamath – Trinity River Chinook salmon were proposed for federal listing in 1998, but listing was determined to be not warranted.