Mission Creek is a tributary, roughly 9 miles (14.5 km) long, of Champoeg Creek

Champoeg Creek

Champoeg Creek is a tributary, roughly long, of the Willamette River in the U.S. state of Oregon. The creek is formed by the confluence of its two forks in the French Prairie region of the Willamette Valley and flows generally northeast to meet the Willamette from the river's confluence with the...

 in Marion County

Marion County, Oregon

Marion County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oregon. It was originally named the Champooick District, after Champoeg, a meeting place on the Willamette River. On September 3, 1849, the territorial legislature renamed it in honor of Francis Marion, a Continental Army general of the...

 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...

. The creek arises southwest of St. Paul

St. Paul, Oregon

St. Paul is a city in Marion County, Oregon, United States. It is named after the Saint Paul Mission founded by Archbishop François Norbert Blanchet, who arrived in the Oregon Territory in 1838 to minister to the Catholic inhabitants of French Prairie. The population was 354 at the 2000 census...

  in the French Prairie

French Prairie

French Prairie is a prairie located in Marion County, Oregon, United States, in the Willamette Valley between the Willamette River and the Pudding River, north of Salem...

 region of the Willamette Valley

Willamette Valley

The Willamette Valley is the most populated region in the state of Oregon of the United States. Located in the state's northwest, the region is surrounded by tall mountain ranges to the east, west and south and the valley's floor is broad, flat and fertile because of Ice Age conditions...

 and flows generally northeast to meet Champoeg Creek near Champoeg

Champoeg, Oregon

Champoeg is a former town in the U.S. state of Oregon. Now a ghost town, it was an important settlement in the Willamette Valley in the early 1840s. It is positioned halfway between Oregon City and Salem and the site of the first provisional government of the Oregon Country...

. The combined streams then flow less than 1 miles (1.6 km) before entering the Willamette River

Willamette River

The Willamette River is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States...

, 45 miles (72.4 km) from its confluence with the Columbia River

Columbia River

The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...

.

Course

From its source on French Prairie southwest of St. Paul, the creek flows northeast, passing under River Road Northeast and then under Oregon Route 219 just east of St. Paul. After entering and exiting Mission Creek Reservoir, it passes under Buyserie Road and enters Zorn Pond. Exiting the pond, it flows under McKay Road, then through the ghost town

Ghost town

A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...

 of Champoeg and under Champoeg Road. It joins Champoeg Creek in the Champoeg State Heritage Area, a short distance from the larger creek's confluence with the Willamette River. Champoeg's Creek's mouth is at 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) 45 or river kilometer (RK) 72 of the Willamette, a tributary of the Columbia River. Mission Creek has no named tributaries.