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Pescadero Creek (Pajaro River)

Coordinates: 36°54′01″N 121°35′12″W / 36.90028°N 121.58667°W / 36.90028; -121.58667
From Tilcayo Cats, the lean encyclopaedia by Tilcayo Knowledge Systems
This article is about Pescadero Creek tributary to the Pajaro River. For Pescadero Creek in San Mateo County, see Pescadero Creek.

Pescadero Creek
Arroyo de Pescadero
Location
CountryUnited States
StateCalifornia
RegionSanta Clara and Santa Cruz Counties
Physical characteristics
SourceSouthern Santa Cruz Mountains
 • location2.5 mi (4 km) southwest of Gilroy
 • coordinates36°59′00″N 121°37′23″W / 36.98333°N 121.62306°W / 36.98333; -121.62306[1]
 • elevation1,820 ft (550 m)
MouthPajaro River
 • location
9.5 mi (15 km) east of Watsonville
 • coordinates
36°54′01″N 121°35′12″W / 36.90028°N 121.58667°W / 36.90028; -121.58667[1]
 • elevation
138 ft (42 m)
Length9 mi (14 km)
Basin features
Tributaries 
 • rightWest Fork Pescadero Creek

Pescadero Creek is a 9-mile-long (14 km)[2] southward-flowing stream originating in the southern Santa Cruz Mountains. It begins in Santa Clara County, California and flows into Santa Cruz County, before joining the Pajaro River, and thence to Monterey Bay and the Pacific Ocean. Pescadero Creek is the center of a critical linkage connecting the wildlife of the southern Santa Cruz Mountains to the Gabilan Range to the south.[3]

History

"Pescadero" is Spanish for "fishing place". In 1861 Manuel Larios testified in the Rancho Las Animas land grant case that "the Castros had an Indian boy who went to this creek to fish". Then John Gilroy testified "the Pescadero draws its name from the fact of our catching salmon there" and "the Castros, I, and an Indian gave it that name in 1814, being a place where we used to catch salmon." Arroyo de Pescadero is shown on diseños from the 1830s.[4]

Watershed and Course

Pescadero Creek runs southerly through the southern Santa Cruz Mountains about 2.5 miles (4.0 km) southwest of Gilroy, California. It upper course is followed by Castro Valley Road, until it joins with Hatfield Canyon Creek at the bottom of Hatfield Canyon.[5] Hatfield Canyon Creek begins on Long Ridge[6] and flows east then southeast to join Pescadero Creek. After passing Hatfield Canyon, Pescadero Creek then crosses into Santa Cruz County and receives from the right Star Creek,[7] which drains the eastern flank of 1,618 feet (493 m) tall Atherton Peak.[8] Next, Pescadero Creek passes to the east of 1,575 feet (480 m) tall Mount Pajaro[9] on its way to its confluence with the Pajaro River, about 9.5 miles (15.3 km) east of Watsonville, California.

Ecology and Conservation

Pescadero Creek hosts spawning runs of anadromous steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).[10]

The use of the word "salmon" in the above historical accounts is not specific and may refer to either steelhead trout or salmon. However, Stanford University ichthyologist John Otterbein Snyder indicated in a 1912 report that Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tschawytscha) ran in the Pajaro River watershed.[11] In 1953, local Gilroy resident, Herman Garcia Sr., caught a Chinook salmon in Uvas Creek, a tributary of the Pajaro River watershed. Also, two adult Chinook salmon 60 centimetres (24 in) and 65 centimetres (26 in) long were caught and released in a 2005 study of San Felipe Lake, although these may have been fall-run Chinook from hatchery releases.[12]

A series of purchases by land trusts in the last few years have protected much of Pescadero Creek from Hatfield Canyon to the confluence with the Pajaro River. The 1,200 acres (490 hectares) Star Creek Ranch on the eastern slope of Mount Atherton has been protected by the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County. The Ranch is bordered by 2 miles (3.2 km) of Pescadero Creek and harbors 350 acres (140 hectares) of coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) forest, oak woodlands and grasslands. It is a component of a critical linkage for wildlife to move from the Santa Cruz Mountains to the Gabilan Range to the south.[13] Just downstream from the Star Creek Ranch, the [Peninsula Open Space Trust] (POST) acquired the 1,340 acres (540 hectares) Pescadero Ranch for $15.65 million in October, 2024. This further adds to the critical wildlife linkage from the Gabilan Range to the south of the Pajaro River to the Santa Cruz Mountains to the north.[14][15] Then, in January 2006 POST acquired the Sargent Ranch, conserving the lands along nearly the entire eastern bank and much of the western bank of Pescadero Creek from Hatfield Canyon to the confluence with the Pajaro River.[16]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Pescadero Creek
  2. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map Archived 2012-03-29 at the Wayback Machine, accessed March 27, 2022
  3. ↑ Penrod, K.; P. E. Garding; C. Paulman; P. Beier; S. Weiss; N. Schaefer; R. Branciforte; K. Gaffney (2013). Critical Linkages: Bay Area & Beyond (PDF) (Report). Fair Oaks, California: Science & Collaboration for Connected Wildlands. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  4. ↑ Erwin G. Gudde (2010). William Bright (ed.). California Place Names: The Origin and Etymology of Current Geographical Names. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. p. 287. ISBN 978-0-520-26619-3.
  5. ↑ "Hatfield Canyon". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  6. ↑ "Long Ridge". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  7. ↑ "Star Creek". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  8. ↑ "Atherton Peak". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  9. ↑ "Mount Pajaro". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  10. ↑ David A. Boughton; Heidi Fish; Kerrie Pipal; Jon Goin; Fred Watson; Julie Casagrande; Joel Casagrande; Matt Stoecker (August 1, 2005). Contraction of the Southern Range Limit for Anadromous Oncorhynchus Mykiss. NOAA-TM-NMFS-SWFSC-380 (PDF) (Report). Santa Cruz, California: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, Southwest Fisheries Science Center. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
  11. ↑ John Otterbein Snyder (1912). "The Fishes of the Streams Tributary to Monterey Bay, California". Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Fisheries. XXXII: 1–72.
  12. ↑ Julie Renee Casagrande (2010). Aquatic Ecology of San Felipe Lake, San Benito County, California. Master's Theses. 3803 (Thesis). San Jose State University. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
  13. ↑ Dan Medeiros (December 26, 2012). "Land Trust Protects Precious Pajaro Hills". Watsonville Patch. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  14. ↑ Kurtis Alexander (October 28, 2024). "Critical California corridor for mountain lions to be preserved". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved October 28, 2004.
  15. ↑ Paul Rogers (October 28, 2024). "Environmentalists buy part of huge ranch at center of mining controversy in Santa Clara County". Mercury News. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  16. ↑ Kurtis Alexander (January 29, 2026). "Land trust buys scenic Bay Area ranch, halting controversial plan for a quarry". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved August 15, 2026.
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