Editing Sacramento River (section)

===Upper river===
[[Image:Sacramento_river_castle_crags_state_park.jpg|thumb|right|Upper Sacramento River at [[Castle Crags State Park]]]]
[[File:Sacramento River Red Bluff.jpg|thumb|The Sacramento River running through [[Red Bluff, California]]]]
[[File:Sacramento River in Bend, California.jpg|thumb|left|Sacramento River in [[Bend, California]]]]
The Sacramento River originates in the mountains and plateaus of far northern California as three major waterways that flow into [[Shasta Lake]]: the Upper Sacramento River, [[McCloud River]] and [[Pit River]]. The Upper Sacramento begins near [[Mount Shasta]], at the confluence of North, Middle and South Forks in the [[Trinity Mountains]] of [[Siskiyou County, California|Siskiyou County]]. It flows east into a small reservoir, [[Lake Siskiyou]], before turning south. The river flows through a canyon for about {{convert|60|mi|km}}, past [[Dunsmuir, California|Dunsmuir]] and [[Castella, California|Castella]], before emptying into Shasta Lake near [[Lakehead, California|Lakehead]] in [[Shasta County, California|Shasta County]]. The McCloud River rises on the east slope of Mount Shasta and flows south for {{convert|77|mi|km}} through the southern [[Cascade Range]], roughly parallel to the Upper Sacramento, eventually to reach the McCloud Arm of Shasta Lake.<ref name="ACMEmapper">{{cite map
 |publisher   = ACME Mapper
 |title       = USGS Topo Maps for United States
 |cartography = [[United States Geological Survey]]
 |access-date  = February 19, 2016
 |url         = http://mapper.acme.com/
 |url-status     = live
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20080102075829/http://mapper.acme.com/
 |archive-date = January 2, 2008
}}</ref>

The Pit River, by far the largest of the three, begins in [[Modoc County, California|Modoc County]] in the northeastern corner of California. Draining a vast and remote volcanic highlands area, it flows southwest for nearly {{convert|300|mi|km}} before emptying into Shasta Lake near [[Montgomery Creek, California|Montgomery Creek]]. [[Goose Lake (Oregon-California)|Goose Lake]], straddling the [[Oregon]]–California border, occasionally overflows into the Pit River during wet years, although this has not happened since 1881. The Goose Lake watershed is the only part of the Sacramento River basin extending into another state.<ref name="PitRiverWatershed">{{cite web |url=http://www.sacriver.org/files/documents/roadmap/report/Northeast_Pit.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=March 11, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311125444/http://www.sacriver.org/files/documents/roadmap/report/Northeast_Pit.pdf |archive-date=March 11, 2016 }}</ref> Unlike most California rivers, the Pit and the McCloud Rivers are predominantly spring-fed, ensuring a large and consistent flow in even the driest of summers.<ref name="PitRiverWatershed"/> At the lower end of Shasta Lake is [[Shasta Dam]], which impounds the Sacramento River for flood control, irrigation and hydropower generation. Before the construction of Shasta Dam, the McCloud River emptied into the Pit River, which joined the Sacramento near the former mining town of [[Kennett, California|Kennett]], submerged when Shasta Lake was filled. The [[Pit River Bridge]], which carries [[Interstate 5]] and the [[Union Pacific Railroad]] over the reservoir, is structurally the highest double-decked bridge in the United States (although most of the bridge piers are submerged under Shasta Lake when the reservoir is full).<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fsm9_008585.pdf | title=Sightseeing on Shasta Lake | publisher=United States Forest Service | access-date=December 8, 2016 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170228115422/https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fsm9_008585.pdf | archive-date=February 28, 2017 }}</ref> The Upper Sacramento River canyon also provides the route for I-5 and the railroad between Lakehead and Mount Shasta.<ref name="ACMEmapper"/>