Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles
available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. The Russian
River, a southward-flowing river, drains 1,485 square miles (3,846 km2)
of Sonoma and Mendocino counties in Northern California. With an annual
average discharge of approximately 1,600,000 acre feet (1.97 km3), it is
the second largest river (after the Sacramento River) flowing through
the nine county Greater San Francisco Bay Area. The Russian River
springs from the Laughlin Range about 5 mi (8 km) east of Willits in
Mendocino County. It flows generally southward to Redwood Valley, then
parallels U.S. Route 101 past Calpella, to join the East Fork Russian
River just below Lake Mendocino. From there the Russian River flows
south, past Ukiah and Hopland, and crosses into Sonoma County just north
of Cloverdale. Closely paralleled by U.S. Route 101, it descends into
the Alexander Valley, where it is joined by Big Sulphur Creek. It flows
south past Cloverdale, Asti, and Geyserville.
