The Clowhom River is a short, 19.8 kilometres (12.3 mi) river in British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

. It flows into the head of the Salmon Inlet

Salmon Inlet

Salmon Inlet is an fjord branching east from Sechelt Inlet in the British Columbia, Canada. Its companion, Narrows Inlet, another side-inlet of Sechelt Inlet, lies roughly north. Misery and Sechelt Creeks flow freely into the inlet, while the Clowhom River flows in from the artificial Clowhom...

 about 26.2 km west of Squamish

Squamish, British Columbia

Squamish is a community and a district municipality in the Canadian province of British Columbia, located at the north end of Howe Sound on the Sea to Sky Highway...

.

Course

The Clowhom originates at the outlet of a tiny, unnamed lake on the south slopes of Mount Jimmy Jimmy. It flows south from there for about 4.4 km until it enters remote Phantom Lake. The river turns east upon exiting Phantom Lake and very soon drops over tall Phantom Falls, which is rumored to stand at least 500 feet high. From Phantom Falls, the river runs east for about 4.4 km before turning south for about 5.7 miles and then southwest for about 5 km before entering the north end of Clowhom Lake

Clowhom Lake

Clowhom Lake is a reservoir in the Sechelt Inlet basin, located on the Clowhom River at the upper end of Salmon Inlet, the southern side-inlet of Sechelt Inlet. Formed by Clowhom Dam, the reservoir was formerly two lakes, Upper Clowhom Lake and Lower Clowhom Lake, and had been referred to prior...

. The river flows through a dam upon exiting the south end of Clowhom Lake. It only flows about 0.3 km from the lake outlet as it soon reaches its mouth in the Salmon Inlet

Salmon Inlet

Salmon Inlet is an fjord branching east from Sechelt Inlet in the British Columbia, Canada. Its companion, Narrows Inlet, another side-inlet of Sechelt Inlet, lies roughly north. Misery and Sechelt Creeks flow freely into the inlet, while the Clowhom River flows in from the artificial Clowhom...

.

Extensive logging persisted in the region from the 1920s to
the 1970s, with railway, and diesel trucks yarding the large fir and cedar
trees out. Fish farms have taken over from the logging now.

Clowhom Dam

The 33MW dam was built in 1953 to provide power to the pulp mill at Port Mellon near Gibsons. It is currently operated by BC Hydro

BC Hydro

The BC Hydro and Power Authority is a Canadian electric utility in the province of British Columbia generally known simply as BC Hydro. It is the main electric distributor, serving 1.8 million customers in most areas, with the exception of the Kootenay region, where FortisBC, a subsidiary of Fortis...

.49°42′41"N 123°32′7"W

Tributaries

The Clowhom River has 4 major named tributaries. The first is Red Tusk Creek, which flows into the river just above Clowhom Lake, the second is Taquat Creek, which enters the lake just below its inlet, the third is Dempster Creek, which enters not far down the lake's shore from the mouth of Taquat Creek and the last one is Bear Creek, a river-sized creek that enters the lower reaches of the lake.