The Pit River is a major river draining from northeastern California into the state's Central Valley. The Pit, the Klamath and the Columbia are the only three rivers in the U.S. that cross the Cascade Range.
The longest tributary of the Sacramento River, it contributes as much as eighty percent of their combined water volume into Lake Shasta; the junction of their Lake Shasta arms is 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Shasta Dam. The main stem of the Pit River is 207 miles (333 km) long, and some water in the system flows 315 miles (507 km) to the Sacramento River measuring from the Pit River's longest source.
The Pit River drains a sparsely-populated volcanic highlands area, passing through the south end of the Cascade Range in a deep canyon northeast of Redding. The river is so named because of the pits the Achumawi dug to trap game that came to water at the river.
Read more about Pit River: Description, History
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