Minam River

{{Short description|River in NE Oregon, USA}}

{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}

{{Infobox river

| name = Minam River

| native_name =

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| image = Minam River near confluence with Wallowa River IMG 4501.jpg

| image_caption = Minam River near its confluence with the Wallowa River

| image_size = 300

| map =

| map_size = 300

| map_caption =

| pushpin_map = USA Oregon#USA

| pushpin_map_size = 300

| pushpin_map_caption= Location of the mouth of the Minam River in Oregon

| subdivision_type1 = Country

| subdivision_name1 = United States

| subdivision_type2 = State

| subdivision_name2 = Oregon

| subdivision_type3 =

| subdivision_name3 =

| subdivision_type4 = County

| subdivision_name4 = Union and Wallowa

| subdivision_type5 =

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| length = {{convert|51|mi|km|abbr=on}}{{cite web|title=The National Map: National Hydrography Dataset |publisher=United States Geological Survey |url=http://viewer.nationalmap.gov/viewer/ |accessdate=May 3, 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120329155652/http://viewer.nationalmap.gov/viewer/ |archivedate=March 29, 2012 }}

| width_min =

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| discharge1_location=

| discharge1_min =

| discharge1_avg = {{convert|455|cuft/s|m3/s|abbr=on}}{{cite book|last=Palmer|first=Tim|title=Field Guide to Oregon Rivers|publisher=Oregon State University Press|location=Corvallis|year=2014|pages=289–90|isbn=978-0-87071-627-0}}

| discharge1_max =

| source1 = Eagle Cap Wilderness

| source1_location = Wallowa–Whitman National Forest, Union County

| source1_coordinates= {{coord|45|10|07|N|117|21|28|W|display=inline}}{{cite web | work = Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) | publisher = United States Geological Survey | date = November 28, 1980 | url ={{Gnis3|1146303}} | title = Minam River|accessdate=September 28, 2011}}

| source1_elevation = {{convert|7684|ft|abbr=on}}Source elevation derived from Google Earth search using GNIS source coordinates.

| mouth = Wallowa River

| mouth_location = Minam, Wallowa County

| mouth_coordinates = {{coord|45|37|17|N|117|43|14|W|display=inline,title}}

| mouth_elevation = {{convert|2536|ft|abbr=on}}

| progression =

| river_system =

| basin_size = {{convert|239|sqmi|abbr=on}}{{cite web|title = Minam River Spring Chinook Population|publisher = Northwest Fisheries Science Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|url = http://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/trt/trt_documents/minam_chinook3_10_07.pdf|format = PDF|page = 2|accessdate = August 17, 2010|url-status = dead|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304193225/http://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/trt/trt_documents/minam_chinook3_10_07.pdf|archivedate = March 4, 2016}}

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| extra = {{Designation list

| embed = yes

| designation1 = nwsr

| designation1_type = Wild

| designation1_date = October 28, 1988

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}}

}}

The Minam River is a tributary of the Wallowa River, {{convert|51|mi}} long, in northeastern Oregon in the United States. It drains a rugged wilderness area of the Wallowa Mountains northeast of La Grande.

It rises in the Wallowas in the Eagle Cap Wilderness of the Wallowa–Whitman National Forest, just south of the Wallowa–Union border approximately {{convert|25|mi}} southeast of La Grande at Blue Lake. It flows generally northwest through the mountains along the Wallowa–Union county line. It joins the Wallowa from the south at the community of Minam near Oregon Route 82.{{cite book|title=Oregon Atlas & Gazetteer|publisher=DeLorme Mapping|location= Freeport, Maine|year=1991 |page=87|isbn=0-89933-235-8}} Its headwaters include springs stemming from outflow from Minam Lake, also the source of the Lostine River.{{cite web|url=http://www.rivers.gov/rivers/rivers/lostine.php|title=Lostine River, Oregon|publisher=National Wild and Scenic Rivers System|accessdate=December 12, 2012|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014032006/http://www.rivers.gov/rivers/rivers/lostine.php|archivedate=October 14, 2012}}

From its headwaters to the Eagle Cap Wilderness boundary downstream of Cougar Creek, a distance of {{convert|39|mi|km}}, the Minam River was declared part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System in 1988. Accessible mainly by United States Forest Service trails, the river basin supports diverse wildlife, including wolverine, bighorn sheep, elk, American black bear, and cougar.{{cite web|title=National Wild and Scenic Rivers: Minam River, Oregon|url=http://www.rivers.gov/rivers/minam.php|publisher= United States Forest Service|date=August 18, 2011|accessdate=December 24, 2015}}

The Minam, except for the lower {{convert|8|mi|km|0}}, where the surrounds have been heavily logged and otherwise altered, is largely pristine. It and the Wenaha River are the two largest rivers in Oregon that are nearly pristine.

class="wikitable sortable" ! point !! geolocation !! USGS map
mouth at Wallowa River	{{coord|45.621256
117.720478|type:river_region:US-OR_source:gnis-1146303|name=Minam River mouth|display=inline}}	Minam
GNIS point 2, RM 10.1	{{coord|45.499866
117.685198|type:river_region:US-OR_source:gnis-1146303|name=Minam River RM 10.1}}	Mount Moriah
GNIS point 3	{{coord|45.374586
117.652424|type:river_region:US-OR_source:gnis-1146303|name=Minam River pt 3}}	Mount Fanny
GNIS point 4	{{coord|45.347364
117.626036|type:river_region:US-OR_source:gnis-1146303|name=Minam River pt 4}}	Jim White Ridge
GNIS point 5	{{coord|45.249867
117.529373|type:river_region:US-OR_source:gnis-1146303|name=Minam River pt 5}}	China Cap
GNIS point 6, RM 33.8	{{coord|45.210980
117.500761|type:river_region:US-OR_source:gnis-1146303|name=Minam River RM 33.8}}	Steamboat Lake
Blue Lake source RM 46	{{coord|45.168485
117.357688|type:river_region:US-OR_source:gnis-1146303|name=Minam River source RM 46}}	Eagle Cap