The Winchuck River starts at an elevation of about 2,000 feet (610 m) and flows generally south-west for 19 miles (31 km) through the Rogue River–Siskiyou National Forest to the Pacific Ocean at Crissey Field, about 17 miles (27 km) north of Crescent City and 4.8 miles (7.7 km) south-east of Brookings, Oregon. The name is reputedly derived from the Chinook Jargon “wind chuck”, meaning “windy water”. Old maps show the name “Windchuck”, but since the 1920s Winchuck has been more commonly used. The river drains a watershed of roughly 45,600 acres (18,470 ha) on the southern flank of Mount Emily, underlain by sedimentary and volcanic rock, mostly graywacke, sandstone, and mudstone that formed during the Jurassic period.
Most of Oregon’s remaining coast redwood forest lies within the Winchuck drainage. The watershed also supports forests of Douglas fir, bigleaf maple, and madrone, typical of the Southern Oregon Coast Range. These forests were bombed by a seaplane of the Japanese Imperial Navy during the second world war. According to local lore, these attacks prompted the construction of an airfield on land leased from Bill Crissey, who grew lily bulbs on the land at the mouth of the Winchuck River. The airfield was supposedly used as a refuelling base for submarine-seeking airplanes towards the end of the war and for many years afterwards was the most south-western airfield in Oregon. In 1962 the airport lease was not renewed; consequently, in 1963 a new airport was constructed at Brookings, and Crissey Field was abandoned.
In 1993 the State of Oregon acquired Crissey Field in a land exchange with a private timber company, but the park remained undeveloped until lottery funds for a new visitor center were allocated. In 2008 a visitors center of 4,500 square feet (418 sq m) was completed. It is a model of green technology, including geothermal heating and cooling and solar panels. Today Crissey Field is a coastal state park administered by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. It starts on the southern shore at the mouth of the Winchuck River and extends to the California state border. The old runway is now a beach-access footpath. Read more here and here. Explore more of the Winchuk River and Crissey Field here: