The Lost River begins and ends in a closed basin in northern California and southern Oregon in the United States. The river, long, flows in an arc from Clear Lake Reservoir in Modoc County, California, through Klamath County, Oregon, to Tule Lake in Siskiyou County, California. About of Lost River are in Oregon, and are in California.
Dams, canals, pumps, and other artificial structures on the Lost River, Clear Lake, and Tule Lake are part of the Klamath Project of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which manages the basin's water flow mainly for farming and flood control. The project provides water to about of cropland, 62% of which are in Oregon and 38% in California. Water from the Lost River basin is diverted to the Klamath River basin, mainly through the Lost River Diversion Channel, about downstream of Olene. The channel can also supply water by reverse flow from the Klamath when irrigation water is needed for farms in drained parts of Tule Lake.
History
After 1846, the Applegate Trail crossed the river on a natural bridge of stepping-stones, later covered by a Bureau of Reclamation dam, near Merrill. Earlier in that year, explorer John C. Frémont had named the stream McCrady River after a boyhood friend, but over time the Lost River name prevailed. A Lost River post office operated briefly, probably in the vicinity of Olene, in 1875–76.
See also
- Battle of Lost River
- List of longest streams of Oregon
- List of rivers of California
- List of rivers of Oregon