Nooksack River

Nooksack River North Fork Nooksack River
Aerial photo of the river in Ferndale, WA.
Nooksack Basin
Mouth of the Nooksack River in Washington
Location
Country	United States
State	Washington
Counties	Whatcom
Cities	Ferndale, Marietta
Physical characteristics
Source	Cascade Range
• location	Mount Baker Wilderness
• coordinates	48°50′0″N 121°33′18″W / 48.83333°N 121.55500°W / 48.83333; -121.55500[2]
• elevation	3,620 ft (1,100 m)[3]
Mouth	Bellingham Bay
• coordinates	48°46′29″N 122°35′57″W / 48.77472°N 122.59917°W / 48.77472; -122.59917[1]
• elevation	0 ft (0 m)[3]
Length	75 mi (121 km)[4]
Basin size	786 sq mi (2,040 km2)[5]
Discharge
• location	Ferndale[5]
• average	3,814 cu ft/s (108.0 m3/s)[5]
• minimum	466 cu ft/s (13.2 m3/s)
• maximum	48,200 cu ft/s (1,360 m3/s)
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	Wells Creek, Glacier Creek, Middle Fork Nooksack River, South Fork Nooksack River
• right	Canyon Creek

The Nooksack River is a river in western Whatcom County of the northwestern U.S. state of Washington, draining extensive valley systems within the North Cascades around Mount Shuksan, Mount Baker and the Twin Sisters, and a portion of Fraser Lowland south of the Canada–United States border.

The river proper begins with the merging of three main tributaries, namely the North Fork, Middle Fork and South Fork, near Deming. All three forks originate in the Mount Baker Wilderness, and the North Fork, the longest of the three, is sometimes considered the main river.^[2] The Nooksack is approximately 75 miles (121 km) in total length measuring from the North Fork headwaters. The lower Nooksack flows as a northerly loop through the fertile southern Fraser Lowland agricultural area before emptying into Bellingham Bay and, via the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Strait of Georgia, communicating with the Pacific Ocean.