| Salmonberry River | |
| Name Etymology: | Salmonberry plant, Rubus spectabilis |
| Map Size: | 300 |
| Pushpin Map: | USA Oregon |
| Pushpin Map Size: | 300 |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of the mouth of Salmonberry River in Oregon |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | United States |
| Subdivision Type2: | State |
| Subdivision Name2: | Oregon |
| Subdivision Type4: | County |
| Subdivision Name4: | Tillamook |
| Length: | 20miles[1] |
| Discharge1 Avg: | 350cuft/s |
| Source1 Location: | Tillamook State Forest, Northern Oregon Coast Range |
| Source1 Coordinates: | 45.7456°N -123.3928°W[2] |
| Source1 Elevation: | 2090feet[3] |
| Mouth: | Nehalem River |
| Mouth Coordinates: | 45.7508°N -123.6533°W |
| Mouth Elevation: | 236feet |
| Basin Size: | 66sqmi[4] |
The Salmonberry River is a tributary of the Nehalem River, about 20miles long, in northwest Oregon in the United States.[1] It drains a remote unpopulated area of the Northern Oregon Coast Range in the Tillamook State Forest about 65miles west-northwest of Portland. The river runs through part of the region devastated between 1933 and 1951 by a series of wildfires known as the Tillamook Burn.[5]
It rises in northeastern Tillamook County, near its border with Washington County, and flows west-northwest through the mountains, joining the Nehalem from the southeast about 15miles northeast of the city of Nehalem.[6]
The river's name comes from the salmonberry plant, Rubus spectabilis.[7]
An excursion railway and dinner train, the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad (OCSR), travels up the Nehalem River canyon from Wheeler to the mouth of the Salmonberry.[8] The train to the Salmonberry is part of an excursion-train network operated by the OCSR, a non-profit organization run by volunteers, on track formerly used by the Southern Pacific Railroad and the Port of Tillamook Bay Railroad.[9] The railway track continues up the Salmonberry for 14miles, but flooding and erosion damaged it so severely that it was closed in 2007.[1]
The Wild Salmon Center and other conservation groups concerned about salmon and steelhead runs on the Nehalem and the Salmonberry prefer that the track along the Salmonberry remain closed.[1] Of particular concern are landslides and herbicide spraying along the railway tracks in the river's riparian zones.[4] Both kinds of incursion can harm fish and incubating fish eggs.[4]