Little River (Humboldt County)

The Little River is a river in the U.S. state of California, whose drainage basin is the largest on the Pacific coast between the Mad River and Big Lagoon. The 19.6-mile (31.5 km) river drains the forested Franciscan assemblage of the California Coast Ranges.[2]

Little River
Little River Estuary upstream of Highway 101
Map of the Little River region
Location
Country	United States
State	California
Region	Humboldt County
Physical characteristics
Source
• coordinates	40°58′51″N 123°53′41″W[1]
Mouth	Pacific Ocean
• coordinates	41°01′37″N 124°06′40″W[1]
• elevation	0 ft (0 m)

The lowermost mile of channel is through Quaternary alluvium and dune sand of an estuarine floodplain typical of coastal inlets along the Cascadia subduction zone.[3] Land seaward of U.S. Route 101 forms Little River State Beach and Clam Beach County Park. Little River State Park was established in 1931.[4] The floodplain upstream of the Highway 101 bridge is cleared as grazing pasture, and the upland portion of the drainage basin, including the former company town of Crannell, is in private ownership growing forest products. In 2014, the North Coast regional water board recommended that the Jolly Giant Creek be listed as an impaired waterway due to E. coli contamination 600 times greater than normal.[5]