River · United States
Sacramento River
The Sacramento is the largest river in California. It starts near the snowy volcano Mount Shasta, flows south through a wide valley past the state capital Sacramento and ends in San Francisco Bay.
Picture credit: David Monniaux (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Sacramento River?
The river starts here: Near Mount Shasta, northern California.
It ends in the Suisun Bay, part of San Francisco Bay.
Countries on the river: the United States.
The story behind it
High in the north, the huge Shasta Dam holds back the Sacramento and forms Shasta Lake. The dam protects the valley from floods, stores water for farms and makes electricity. In the city of Redding, the Sundial Bridge crosses the river. Its tall pylon casts a shadow that works like a giant sundial, and it has no supports in the water, so the spawning grounds of the salmon are left alone. Every year Chinook salmon swim up the river from the ocean; on the west coast of the USA only the Columbia River has bigger salmon runs. In 1848 James Marshall found gold while building a sawmill for John Sutter, and the California Gold Rush began. Sutter's Fort grew into the city of Sacramento. Big ships can still sail up the river from the sea to the city. Sometimes whales and sea lions swim inland by mistake.
Questions children ask
How long is the Sacramento River?
The Sacramento River is about 640 km long. Other sources give about 607 to 615 km, because the length depends on where its start is counted.
What does the Sacramento have to do with the Gold Rush?
In 1848 gold was found while a sawmill was being built for John Sutter, and the California Gold Rush began. Sutter's Fort grew into the city of Sacramento, today the capital of California.
Why does the Sundial Bridge have no pillars in the river?
The bridge in Redding hangs from one tall pylon with steel cables. That way nothing stands in the water, and the nearby spawning grounds of the salmon are protected.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
Last checked: