Bear River is the largest Pacific coastal drainage basin between the Mattole River and the Eel River. Bear River drains the ranch pastures and forests of California Coast Ranges south of the Bear River Ridge extending easterly from False Cape along the False Cape shear zone of the Russ Fault. The river channel through undivided Cretaceous marine formations exposes younger Neogene, namely middle or lower Pliocene, marine sedimentary and metasedimentary rocks near the mouth, but lacks the well defined offshore submarine canyons of the Eel River to the north and the Mattole River to the south.[2] Bear River reaches the Pacific after flowing westerly approximately 20 miles (32 km) from elevations above 2,000 feet (600 m) along the ridge above the Bull Creek drainage of Humboldt Redwoods State Park.[3]: map 38 Bear River provides the recreational and industrial water supply for the community of Capetown, California, and wildlife habitat including cold freshwater habitat for fish migration and spawning.[4]
| Bear River | |
|---|---|
 Mouth of Bear River | |
  Location of the mouth of Bear River in California | |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| Region | Humboldt County |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • coordinates | 40°21′20″N 124°03′09″W / 40.35556°N 124.05250°W[1] |
| Mouth | Pacific Ocean |
• coordinates | 40°35′28″N 124°23′24″W / 40.59111°N 124.39000°W[1] |
• elevation | 0 ft (0 m) |
Bear River was named from the numerous bears seen there by early settlers.[5] Alternatively, it was named after Lewis Keysor Wood of the Gregg party was mauled by a wounded bear near the river in 1850.[6]
References
edit- ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Bear River
- ^ Strand, Rudolph G. Geologic Map of California:Redding Sheet (1962) State of California Resources Agency
- ^ Northern California Atlas and Gazetteer. Delorme Publishing. 1 January 1998. ISBN 978-0-89933-267-3.
- ^ "'Water Quality Control Plan North Coastal Basin 1B". North Coast Regional Water Control Board, State of California. 2013. Archived from the original on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
In the July 1975 edition, page 13
- ^ History and Business Directory of Humboldt County [Cal.] ... L.E. Hamm. 1890. p. 35.
- ^ Bright, William (1998). 1500 California Place Names: Their Origin and Meaning. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.