| Alpowa Creek | |
| Pushpin Map: | Washington |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of the mouth of Alpowa Creek in Washington |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | United States |
| Subdivision Type2: | State |
| Subdivision Name2: | Washington |
| Subdivision Type3: | County |
| Subdivision Name3: | Garfield, Asotin |
| Length: | 25.1miles[1] |
| Source1: | Blue Mountains |
| Source1 Location: | near Peola |
| Source1 Coordinates: | 46.2969°N -117.4936°W[2] |
| Mouth: | Snake River |
| Mouth Location: | West of Lewiston/Clarkston |
| Mouth Coordinates: | 46.4211°N -117.2042°W |
| Mouth Elevation: | 738feet |
Alpowa Creek is a stream in Garfield and Asotin Counties, southeastern Washington. It starts near Peola, about 10miles south of Pomeroy, in the foothills of the northern Blue Mountains just outside the Umatilla National Forest.[3] It initially flows north through farmland before descending northeast into a canyon, flanked to the north by Alpowa Ridge and to the south by Knotgrass Ridge.[4] It receives Stember Creek from the left; downstream of there, U.S. Highway 12 runs parallel to it.[5] It empties into the Snake River at Lower Granite Lake, the impoundment formed by Lower Granite Dam, about 8miles to the west of Clarkston.[6]
The creek's name derives from the Nez Perce Alpahwah or Elpawawe meaning "a spring forming a creek", which was the name of a Nez Perce village that once stood at the confluence of Alpowa Creek and the Snake River.[7] The creek supports a minor population of Snake River steelhead trout. Due to the impacts of livestock grazing and water diversion for agriculture, it has been designated a priority restoration reach by the Snake River Salmon Recovery Board.[8]