The Millicoma River is a coast stream, about 8.5 miles (13.7 km) long, east of Coos Bay

Coos Bay, Oregon

Coos Bay is a city located in Coos County, Oregon, United States, where the Coos River enters Coos Bay on the Pacific Ocean. The city borders the city of North Bend, and together they are often referred to as one entity called either Coos Bay-North Bend or the Bay Area...

 in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

. Formed by the confluence of the East Fork Millicoma River

East Fork Millicoma River

The East Fork Millicoma River is a tributary, about long, of the Millicoma River in the U.S. state of Oregon. Rising in eastern Coos County, it flows generally west to the community of Allegany, where it joins the West Fork Millicoma River to form the Millicoma. In turn, the Millicoma, which is...

 and the West Fork Millicoma River

West Fork Millicoma River

The West Fork Millicoma River is a tributary, about long, of the Millicoma River in the U.S. state of Oregon. Rising in northeastern Coos County near the Douglas County line, it flows generally southwest through the Elliott State Forest of the Southern Oregon Coast Range to the community of...

 at Allegany

Allegany, Oregon

Allegany is an unincorporated community in Coos County, Oregon, United States east of Coos Bay. According to Oregon Geographic Names, a post office was established there in 1893, and it is unknown why this spelling was chosen rather than the more common form, Allegheny, used for many features in...

, it meanders across relatively flat land to meet the South Fork Coos River

South Fork Coos River

The South Fork Coos River is a tributary, about long, of the Coos River in the U.S. state of Oregon. Formed by the confluence of the Williams River and Tioga Creek, it begins in eastern Coos County near the Douglas County line and flows generally northwest through the Southern Oregon Coast Range....

, with which it forms the Coos River

Coos River

The Coos River flows for about into Coos Bay along the Pacific coast of southwest Oregon in the United States. Formed by the confluence of its major tributaries, the South Fork Coos River and the Millicoma River, it drains an important timber-producing region of the Southern Oregon Coast Range...

.

Oregon Route 241

Oregon Route 241

Oregon Route 241 is an Oregon state highway running from US Route 101 in Coos Bay to Nesika County Park in Coos County. OR 241 is known as the Coos River Highway No. 241...

 (Coos River Highway) runs along the right bank of the river from Allegany to the mouth

River delta

A delta is a landform that is formed at the mouth of a river where that river flows into an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, flat arid area, or another river. Deltas are formed from the deposition of the sediment carried by the river as the flow leaves the mouth of the river...

. The Millicoma meanders generally southwest, receiving Woodruff Creek from the left slightly downstream from Allegany. Deton Creek enters from the right at Rooke and Higgins County Park near river mile

River mile

In the United States, a River mile is a measure of distance in miles along a river from its mouth. River mile numbers begin at zero and increase further upstream. The corresponding metric unit using kilometers is the River kilometer...

 (RM) 3.5 or river kilometer (RK) 5.6. About a half-mile later, Hendrickson Creek enters from the left. The Millicoma receives Matt Davis Creek from the right just before meeting the South Fork Coos River to form the Coos River about 5 miles (8 km) from the larger stream's mouth on Coos Bay

Coos Bay

Coos Bay is an S-shaped inlet where the Coos River enters the Pacific Ocean, approximately 10 miles long and two miles wide, on the Pacific Ocean coast of southwestern Oregon in the United States. The estuary is situated south of the Salmon River. The city of Coos Bay, once named Marshfield, was...

.

The Millicoma supports a large run of shad

Shad

The shads or river herrings comprise the genus Alosa, fish related to herring in the family Clupeidae. They are distinct from others in that family by having a deeper body and spawning in rivers. The several species frequent different areas on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea....

 as well as runs of Chinook salmon

Chinook salmon

The Chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, is the largest species in the pacific salmon family. Other commonly used names for the species include King salmon, Quinnat salmon, Spring salmon and Tyee salmon...

 and steelhead

Rainbow trout

The rainbow trout is a species of salmonid native to tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead is a sea run rainbow trout usually returning to freshwater to spawn after 2 to 3 years at sea. In other words, rainbow trout and steelhead trout are the same species....

, all of which may be fished for. It also supports runs of Coho salmon

Coho salmon

The Coho salmon, Oncorhynchus kisutch, is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family. Coho salmon are also known as silver salmon or "silvers". It is the state animal of Chiba, Japan.-Description:...

, but fishing for them in the Millicoma is not allowed. Rooke and Higgins County Park has a boat launch as does Doras Ramp, near the mouth.

Works cited

• McArthur, Lewis A., and McArthur, Lewis L. (2003) [1928]. Oregon Geographic Names, 7th ed. Portland: Oregon Historical Society Press. ISBN 0-87595-277-1.
• Sheehan, Madelynne Diness (2005). Fishing in Oregon: The Complete Oregon Fishing Guide, 10th ed. Scappoose, Oregon: Flying Pencil Publications. ISBN 0-916473-15-5.