| Bridge Creek | |
| Name Etymology: | A small bridge made of juniper logs that mining prospectors built over bridge creek in about 1862.[1] |
| Map Size: | 300 |
| Pushpin Map: | USA Oregon |
| Pushpin Map Size: | 300 |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of the mouth of Bridge Creek in Oregon |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | United States |
| Subdivision Type2: | State |
| Subdivision Name2: | Oregon |
| Subdivision Type4: | County |
| Subdivision Name4: | Wheeler |
| Length: | 28miles |
| Discharge1 Location: | Coyote Canyon, 0.75miles from mouth[2] |
| Discharge1 Min: | 0.15cuft/s |
| Discharge1 Avg: | 48cuft/s[3] |
| Discharge1 Max: | 221cuft/s |
| Source1: | Ochoco Mountains |
| Source1 Location: | Mount Pisgah, Wheeler County, Oregon |
| Source1 Coordinates: | 44.4667°N -120.2408°W |
| Source1 Elevation: | 6333feet[4] |
| Mouth: | John Day River |
| Mouth Location: | Near Coyote Canyon, Wheeler County, Oregon |
| Mouth Coordinates: | 44.7361°N -120.3083°W |
| Mouth Elevation: | 1483feet[5] |
| Basin Size: | 267sqmi[6] |
Bridge Creek is a 28miles tributary of the John Day River in the U.S. state of Oregon.[5] Part of the drainage basin of the Columbia River, its watershed covers 267mi2 in Wheeler County.[6]
From its headwaters in the Ochoco Mountains in central Oregon, the creek flows generally northeast for about 13miles from Mount Pisgah in the Bridge Creek Wilderness to the small city of Mitchell on U.S. Route 26. From Mitchell, it flows generally northwest for about 15miles, passing through the Painted Hills unit of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument before meeting the John Day River.[7]
Bridge Creek is subject to occasional flash floods, which have affected Mitchell as well as rural areas nearby. Surging water along the creek, which flows parallel to Main Street in Mitchell, caused great damage in 1884 and 1904.[8] A third flood occurred on July 13, 1956, shortly after an intense thunderstorm in the Ochoco Mountains. The creek is usually less than 12inches deep in Mitchell during July. Minutes after the thunderstorm, a sudden surge of water destroyed or heavily damaged 20 buildings in the city and several bridges over Bridge Creek. An observer from the United States Geological Survey estimated that about 4inches of rain had fallen in about 50 minutes at the storm's center.[9] Total damage from the flood, which also caused extensive damage to crops and roads, was $709,000.[10]