Methow River, Washington
- Twisp River, tributary to Methow River. Photo by C. Frissell, PRC
The Methow River flows from the glaciers of the crest and eastern flank of the North Cascades Mountains to the mighty Columbia River of North Central Washington through a stunningly beautiful and sparsely populated 1890 square-mile watershed. The Methow's Indian name is Buttlemuleemauch, meaning "salmon falls river," an apt description given the river is home to wild runs of spring Chinook, summer steelhead, and formerly coho salmon (indigenous coho runs were extinguished by dam construction). Among the Methow's better-known, ecologically diverse tributaries are Early Winters Creek, Chewuch River, Cedar Creek, and Twisp River. The Methow basin's leading activities are tourism, wildland recreation, and agriculture, including wineries, and the river's values are well-recognized in the communities of Mazama, Winthrop, Twisp, Carlton, and Methow. Much of the basin is managed as federal wilderness and some important tracts of private land are held in conservation easements, but much unroaded federal land in the basin remains without permanent protection, as does much private and public land along the river corridor.
