| North Fork Stanislaus River | |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | United States |
| Subdivision Type2: | State |
| Subdivision Name2: | California |
| Source1 Location: | Confluence of Silver Creek and Duck Creek |
| Source1 Coordinates: | 38.515°N -119.9144°W |
| Mouth Location: | Stanislaus River |
| Mouth Coordinates: | 38.1542°N -120.3575°W |
| Mouth Coord Ref: | [1] |
| Progression: | Stanislaus—San Joaquin |
| Length: | 31.2miles |
| Source1 Elevation: | 6716feet |
| Mouth Elevation: | 1230feet |
| Discharge1 Avg: | 429cuft/s[2] |
| Basin Size: | 196mi2[3] |
The North Fork Stanislaus River is a 31.2miles[4] tributary of the Stanislaus River in the central Sierra Nevada and Stanislaus National Forest of eastern California.
The river flows southwest from Alpine County, through Calaveras County, to Tuolumne County.[1]
The river begins at the confluence of Silver Creek and Duck Creek near the western edge of the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness in the Sierra Nevada. From there it flows southwest through a canyon to its confluence with the Middle Fork Stanislaus River near Forest Meadows, which forms the Stanislaus River. The river drains a mountainous, rugged watershed of about 196mi2.[3]
Since the 1980s, the river basin has been extensively developed for hydropower generation. Water from the North Fork is stored in Alpine, Utica, Union and New Spicer Meadows Reservoirs, which regulate the water supply for McKays Point Diversion Dam, located lower down on the North Fork.[5] From McKays Point water is diverted to the Collierville Powerhouse, which can generate up to 253 megawatts.[6]