Hale Creek
| Hale Creek | |
| stream | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | California |
| Region | Santa Clara County |
| Tributaries | |
| - left | Summerville Creek |
| - right | Magdalena Creek, Loyola Creek |
| Source | Foothills in Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve |
| - location | Los Altos Hills, California |
| - elevation | 950 ft (290 m) |
| - coordinates | 37°20′46″N 122°08′08″W / 37.34611°N 122.13556°W |
| Mouth | Permanente Creek |
| - location | Mountain View, California |
| - elevation | 108 ft (33 m) |
| - coordinates | 37°23′00″N 122°05′25″W / 37.38333°N 122.09028°WCoordinates: 37°23′00″N 122°05′25″W / 37.38333°N 122.09028°W |
Hale Creek is a short stream originating in the foothills of Los Altos Hills, California in Santa Clara County, California, United States. Its source is in the Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve upstream and east of Neary Quarry. The creek flows northeasterly 4.6 miles (7.4 km) through the cities of Los Altos Hills, Los Altos, and Mountain View before joining Permanente Creek.
Hale Creek is named for Joseph P. Hale, who at one time owned most of the Rancho San Antonio land grant. Hale was one of the largest land owners in the west, thanks to marrying the daughter of a large Spanish grant holder. He bought 2,000 acres of Juana Briones’ original ranch and was one of Los Altos’ earliest large land owners. He and four other families lived on the Hale Ranch.
In the 1930s Neary Rock Quarry was dug on upper Hale Creek. The quarry supplied base rock for the construction of Moffett Field and crushed rock for Highway 101 and I280. In 2006, Los Altos Hills approved the construction of the Quarry Hills subdivision, consisting of 22 upscale homes and an eleven-acre lake, by damming the outflow from the quarry to Hale Creek.
Below Neary Quarry the Juan Prado Mesa Preserve is a Los Altos Hills Open Space Preserve that follows Hale Creek and can be accessed at the top from Stonebrook Road and at the bottom from Dawson Drive. Juan Prado Mesa was born in Santa Clara in 1806, grandson of Corporal José Valerio Mesa who came to California with the Anza Expedition, and served as a soldier at the San Francisco Presidio becoming Alférez in 1835. Governor Juan Alvarado granted the 7,982-acre (32.30 km2) Rancho San Antonio to Juan Prado Mesa in 1839.
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