Pescadero Creek
| Pescadero Creek | |
| Arroyo del Pescadero, Pescador River | |
| stream | |
_Pt._Reyes_NPS.jpg) Example of an adult male coho salmon spawning in a shallow stream in Northern California. In spring 2015, three coho were discovered spawning in Pescadero Creek.
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| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | California |
| Region | San Mateo County and Santa Cruz counties |
| Tributaries | |
| - left | Butano Creek |
| - right | Peters Creek |
| City | Pescadero |
| Source | |
| - location | western edge of Castle Rock State Park |
| - elevation | 1,880 ft (573 m) |
| - coordinates | 37°14′25″N 122°09′12″W / 37.24028°N 122.15333°W |
| Mouth | Pacific Ocean |
| - location | 14.4 miles (23 km) south of Half Moon Bay, California |
| - elevation | 10 ft (3 m) |
| - coordinates | 37°15′50″N 122°24′26″W / 37.26389°N 122.40722°WCoordinates: 37°15′50″N 122°24′26″W / 37.26389°N 122.40722°W |
| Basin | 170 sq mi (440 km2) |
Pescadero Creek is a major stream in Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties in California. At 26.6 miles (42.8 km), it is the longest stream in San Mateo County and flows all year from springs in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Its source is at 1,880 feet (570 m) above sea level on the western edge of Castle Rock State Park, with additional headwaters in Portola Redwoods State Park, and its course traverses Pescadero Creek County Park and San Mateo County Memorial Park before entering Pescadero Marsh Natural Preserve at Pescadero State Beach and thence to the Pacific Ocean 14.4 miles (23 km) south of Half Moon Bay.
Pescadero is Spanish for "fishing place". In early Mexican land grants or disueños, John Gilroy stated "The Castros, I and an Indian gave it that name in 1814, being a place where we used to catch salmon."Arroyo del Pescadero appears on the disueños of the 1830s. The 1860s' Coast Survey called it the Pescador River. Spanish-speaking people founded the town of Pescadero, California in 1856.
The pre-European Pescadero watershed was occupied by the Ohlone. The Quirostes controlled the area from Bean Hollow Creek southward to Año Nuevo Creek and inland to Butano Ridge. The Oljon controlled from the lower San Gregorio Creek drainage southward to Bean Hollow Creek, including the lower Pescadero and Butano drainages. The Cotogen held the land in and around Purisima Creek. When the Portolà Expedition traveled on horseback along the immediate coast on October 24, 1769, Padre Juan Crespí wrote, "Only in the watercourses are any trees to be seen; elsewhere we saw nothing but grass, and that was burned." The Ohlone managed the land with the most effective tool they had, fire.
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Wikipedia