The Owens River is a river in eastern California in the United States, approximately 183 miles (295 km) long. It drains into and through the Owens Valley, an arid basin between the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada and the western faces of the Inyo and White Mountains. The river terminates at the endorheic Owens Lake south of Lone Pine, at the bottom of a 2,600 sq mi (6,700 km2) watershed.
Owens River south of Poverty Hills
The semi-arid Owens Valley, with the Owens River flowing through the foreground
Panorama of the Owens River Valley from the Inyo Mountains. The large body of water is the Tinemaha Reservoir.
Owens Valley is an arid valley of the Owens River in eastern California in the United States. It is located to the east of the Sierra Nevada, west of the White Mountains and Inyo Mountains, and is split between the Great Basin Desert and the Mojave Desert. The mountain peaks on the West side reach above 14,000 feet (4,300 m) in elevation, while the floor of the Owens Valley is about 4,000 feet (1,200 m), making the valley the deepest in the United States. The Sierra Nevada casts the valley in a rain shadow, which makes Owens Valley "the Land of Little Rain". The bed of Owens Lake, now a predominantly dry endorheic alkali flat, sits on the southern end of the valley.
Owens River from Bishop Tuff tableland.
Image: Wpdms shdrlfi 020l owens valley
Owens Valley, photographed from Sawmill Pass by Ansel Adams, circa 1936.
Alkaline dust blowing off the dry bed of Owens Lake