Waatch River
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox river
| name = Waatch River
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| map =
| map_size = 300
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| pushpin_map = USA Washington
| pushpin_map_size = 300
| pushpin_map_caption= Location of the mouth of the Waatch River in Washington
| subdivision_type1 = Country
| subdivision_name1 = United States
| subdivision_type2 = State
| subdivision_name2 = Washington
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| subdivision_type4 = County
| subdivision_name4 = Clallam
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| source1 = Olympic Mountains
| source1_location =
| source1_coordinates= {{coord|48|17|12|N|124|35|25|W|display=inline}}{{GNIS|1531530|Waatch River}}
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| mouth = Pacific Ocean
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| mouth_coordinates = {{coord|48|20|37|N|124|40|31|W|display=inline,title}}
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The Waatch River is a stream on the Olympic Peninsula in the U.S. state of Washington. It originates in the northwestern Olympic Mountains and empties into the Pacific Ocean through Makah Bay.General course info from USGS topographic maps accessed via the "GNIS in Google Map" feature of the USGS Geographic Names Information System website. The name "Waatch" comes from the Makah village name /waʔač'/, said to mean "bundling up cedar to make a torch".{{cite book|last=Bright|first=William|authorlink=William Bright|title=Native American placenames of the United States|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5XfxzCm1qa4C&pg=PA536|accessdate=11 April 2011|year=2004|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|isbn=978-0-8061-3598-4|page=536}}
Course
The Waatch River originates in the northwestern portion of Olympic Peninsula in the Makah Reservation. It flows north for several miles to within a mile of Neah Bay. After collecting the tributary Educket Creek the Waatch River turns west. It empties into the Pacific Ocean at northern end of Makah Bay, south of Waatch Point and Cape Flattery, and about a mile north of the mouth of the Sooes River. The Makah Air Force Station is located at the river's mouth.