Oso Creek
| Oso Creek | |
| River | |
 Oso Creek
|
|
| Name origin: Spanish: "Bear Creek"; name origin unknown | |
| Country | USA |
|---|---|
| State | California |
| Regions | Orange County, Riverside County |
| Source | Oso Creek Canyon, Santa Ana Mountains |
| - elevation | 1,287 ft (392 m) |
| - coordinates | 33°40′31″N 117°36′28″W / 33.67528°N 117.60778°W |
| Mouth | Trabuco Creek, San Juan Capistrano |
| - elevation | 161 ft (49 m) |
| - coordinates | 33°31′10″N 117°40′19″W / 33.51944°N 117.67194°WCoordinates: 33°31′10″N 117°40′19″W / 33.51944°N 117.67194°W |
| Length | 13.5 mi (22 km) |
| Basin | 20 sq mi (52 km2) |
| Discharge | for Trabuco Creek |
| - average | 33 cu ft/s (1 m3/s) |
| - max | 5,710 cu ft/s (162 m3/s) |
Oso Creek is an approximately 13.5-mile (21.7 km) tributary of Trabuco Creek in southern Orange County in the U.S. state of California. Draining about 20 square miles (52 km2) in a region north of the San Joaquin Hills and south of the Santa Ana Mountains, the creek is Trabuco Creek's largest tributary, and is part of the San Juan Creek drainage basin. Beginning in the foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains near the city of Mission Viejo, the creek is dammed twice to form Upper Oso Reservoir and Lake Mission Viejo. The creek is channelized and polluted along much of its length.
"Oso", meaning bear in the Spanish language, was likely the name given to the creek by Spanish conquistadors. Up to the 1970s, the Oso Creek watershed was mostly undeveloped and the creek ephemeral. The watershed lies close to two major wilderness areas - Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park to the southwest and O'Neill Regional Park to the west, on Trabuco Creek - but has no major parks within its boundaries. Interstate 5 parallels the creek for over half of its length.
The original headwaters of Oso Creek were in a small canyon in the south-central part of the Santa Ana Mountains. A dam was built across this canyon, flooding it to create Upper Oso Reservoir, which now forms the headwaters of the creek, fed by three small seasonal streams. After leaving the reservoir, Oso Creek crosses under California State Route 241 and for the next mile (1.6 km) of its course, it flows through a narrow riparian corridor surrounded by residential areas in the city of Mission Viejo. The creek enters an underground culvert, bends east and south, and enters Lake Mission Viejo, 12 miles (19 km) from the mouth.
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Wikipedia