| Sun River | |
| Name Other: | Medicine River, Pointed Rock River |
| Map Size: | 250 |
| Pushpin Map: | USA Montana |
| Pushpin Map Size: | 250 |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of the mouth of the Sun River in Montana |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | United States |
| Subdivision Type2: | State |
| Subdivision Name2: | Montana |
| Subdivision Type5: | Cities |
| Subdivision Name5: | Fairfield, Sun River, Vaughn, Great Falls |
| Length: | 130miles |
| Discharge1 Location: | Vaughn[1] |
| Discharge1 Min: | 20cuft/s |
| Discharge1 Avg: | 669cuft/s[2] |
| Discharge1 Max: | 53500cuft/s |
| Source1: | North Fork Sun River |
| Source1 Location: | Confluence of Open Creek and McDonald Creek, Lewis and Clark County |
| Source1 Coordinates: | 47.9119°N -112.9731°W |
| Source1 Elevation: | 5781feet |
| Source2: | South Fork Sun River |
| Source2 Location: | Sun Lake, Lewis and Clark County |
| Source2 Coordinates: | 47.3353°N -112.8914°W |
| Source2 Elevation: | 6988feet |
| Source Confluence Location: | Near Gibson Reservoir, Lewis and Clark County |
| Source Confluence Coordinates: | 47.6297°N -112.8569°W |
| Source Confluence Elevation: | 4728feet |
| Mouth: | Missouri River |
| Mouth Location: | Great Falls, Cascade County |
| Mouth Coordinates: | 47.495°N -111.3119°W |
| Mouth Elevation: | 3314feet |
| River System: | Missouri River watershed |
| Basin Size: | 1875sqmi[3] |
| Tributaries Left: | North Fork Sun River, Muddy Creek |
| Tributaries Right: | South Fork Sun River, Willow Creek |
The Sun River (also called the Medicine River) is a tributary of the Missouri River in the Great Plains, approximately 130 mi (209 km) long, in Montana in the United States.
It rises in the Rocky Mountains in two forks, the North Fork and South Fork, which join in the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest above Gibson Reservoir along the county line between Teton and Lewis and Clark counties. It flows E, SE, and E away from the mountains, past Simms, Sun River, and Vaughn and joins the Missouri at Great Falls.
The water of the river is used extensively for irrigation, through the Sun River Project of the United States Bureau of Reclamation. The irrigation area covers approximately 92,000 acres (372 km2).
The North Fork of the Sun River begins high up in the Bob Marshall Wilderness and flows generally Southward for about 20miles until it meets up with the South Fork of the Sun River. Almost immediately the two forks flow into Gibson Reservoir, impounded by Gibson Dam. From when the water leaves the reservoir until it meets the Missouri River in Great Falls, the flowage is known as the Sun River.
The Sun is a Class I river from Gibson Dam to its confluence with the Missouri River for public access for recreational purposes.[4]
| River | Location | Discharge | |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Fork Sun River | Augusta, MT | 350cuft/s[5] | |
| South Fork Sun River | Augusta, MT | 360cuft/s[6] | |
| Sun River | Fort Shaw, MT | 929cuft/s[7] |
A sign located 3 miles south of Great Falls gives information on the history of the Sun River:[8]
This river was called "The Medicine" by the Indians. On the return trip from the coast Capt. Lewis of the Lewis & Clark Expedition struck this river approximately 50 miles west of here. He followed it down to the Missouri passing near this point July 11, 1806. In his journal under that date he said:"when I arrived in sight of the white-bear Islands the missouri bottoms on both sides of the river were crowded with buffaloe I sincerely believe that there were not less than 10 thousand buffaloe within a circle of 2 miles around that place"The City of Great Falls covers a portion of the plain across which the Expedition made their difficult 18 mile portage around the falls of the Missouri in June 1805