| Salt Creek | |
| Name Etymology: | Salt springs along the creek that attract deer[1] |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | United States |
| Subdivision Type2: | State |
| Subdivision Name2: | Oregon |
| Subdivision Type4: | County |
| Subdivision Name4: | Lane |
| Length: | 30miles[2] |
| Source1: | Lower Betty Lake |
| Source1 Location: | southeast of Waldo Lake |
| Source1 Coordinates: | 43.6692°N -122.0214°W[3] |
| Source1 Elevation: | 5481feet[4] |
| Mouth: | Middle Fork Willamette River |
| Mouth Location: | just below Hills Creek Dam |
| Mouth Coordinates: | 43.7253°N -122.4378°W |
| Mouth Elevation: | 1225feet |
Salt Creek is a 30miles tributary of the Middle Fork Willamette River in Lane County in the U.S. state of Oregon.[1] [3] [2] It is named for salt springs along its banks that are used as licks by deer.[1] [5] The stream originates as an outflow of Lower Betty Lake in the forested Cascade Range just southeast of Waldo Lake. It proceeds generally south, through Gold Lake, to Route 58, which it then follows mainly northwest for about 26miles to its mouth at the Middle Fork Willamette River just below Hills Creek Dam.[6] [7] [8] At Salt Creek Falls—roughly 4miles west of Willamette Pass and a little more than 22miles upstream from the mouth[7] [9] —the stream plunges 286feet,[10] discharging an average of 50000gal of water per minute, or 111cuft/s.[11] Below the falls, the creek enters a narrow canyon shaped by glaciation and basaltic lava flows from higher in the Cascades.[9] [12] McCredie Hot Springs, at the former community of McCredie Springs, are natural hot springs along the lower half of Salt Creek beside Route 58.[13] [14]
The Salt Creek watershed is a temperate coniferous forest. The primary tree species are Douglas fir, western hemlock, and mountain hemlock.[15] [16] [17] Fish species in Salt Creek are primarily trout,[18] especially coastal cutthroat trout, rainbow trout, and non-native brook trout.[19] The brook trout were introduced into lakes in and around the Salt Creek watershed, and many now live in upper Salt Creek. Bull trout formerly inhabited Salt Creek until damage to habitat throughout the Willamette River basin, such as dams, reduced their numbers in the Willamette's watershed.[20]