Malad River (Gooding County, Idaho) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Malad River |
|
|---|---|
Map of the Snake River watershed including the Malad River
|
|
| Other name(s) | Big Wood River, Riviera Malades, Sickly River |
| Country | United States |
| State | Idaho |
| Region | Gooding County |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Main source | Confluence of the Big Wood River & Little Wood River 3,460 ft (1,050 m) 42°56′42″N 114°47′46″W / 42.94500°N 114.79611°W |
| River mouth | Snake River 2,703 ft (824 m) 42°51′45″N 114°54′18″W / 42.86250°N 114.90500°W |
| Length | 12.0 mi (19.3 km) |
| Discharge (location 2) |
|
| Basin features | |
| Basin size | 3,000 sq mi (7,800 km2) |
| Tributaries |
|
The Malad River is river located within Gooding County, and Oneida County, Idaho, Idaho, United States, and is a tributary of the Snake River.
Description
The river is formed by the confluence of the Big Wood River and the Little Wood River near Gooding. From there the river flows south and west for 12.0 miles (19.3 km) to join the Snake River near Hagerman.
The river flows through Thousand Springs State Park, where it tumbles down a stairstep waterfall. The Malad Gorge is 250 feet (76 m) deep and 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long.
The river's flow is affected by numerous reservoirs and irrigation works on its tributaries. The Malad River itself is largely diverted into a power flume that enters the Snake below the mouth of the Malad, via a powerhouse. Below the diversion the Malad River is replenished by numerous springs, yet the average flow above the diversion is higher than at the river's mouth.
The Malad River is part of the Columbia River basin, being a tributary of the Snake River, which is a tributary to the Columbia River.
The name of the river stems from French malade, via Rivière aux Malades ('river of the sick'), presumably as a reference to some illness suffered by early French-Canadian trappers who investigated the area.
