San Dieguito River
| San Dieguito River | |
| Rio San Bernardo | |
| River | |
 The San Dieguito River entering Lake Hodges
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| Name origin: Likely based on the name of San Diego River | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | California |
| Region | Southern California |
| District | San Diego County |
| Municipality | Del Mar |
| Tributaries | |
| - left | Santa Maria Creek |
| - right | Temescal Creek |
| City | San Pasqual |
| Primary source | Santa Ysabel Creek |
| Secondary source | Santa Maria Creek |
| Mouth | Pacific Ocean |
| - location | Solana Beach |
| - elevation | 0 ft (0 m) |
| Length | 24 mi (39 km), northeast-southwest |
| Basin | 346 sq mi (896 km2) |
| Discharge | |
| - average | 50 cu ft/s (1 m3/s) |
| - max | 72,100 cu ft/s (2,042 m3/s) |
| - min | 0 cu ft/s (0 m3/s) |
Coordinates: 32°58′23.01″N 117°14′57.57″W / 32.9730583°N 117.2493250°W
The San Dieguito River is a major river in Southern California, United States. Its headwaters rise on the southern slope of the Volcan Mountains in San Diego County and the river flows generally southwest for 23.8 miles (38.3 km), draining 346 square miles (900 km2) before emptying into the Pacific Ocean 20 miles (32 km) north of San Diego.
The river officially begins at the confluence of two streams, Santa Ysabel Creek and Santa Maria Creek, near the town of San Pasqual. Santa Ysabel Creek rises in the northeastern corner of the San Dieguito River watershed and flows west, creating Lake Sutherland. It then flows out of the lake's dam and westwards for the rest of its course. Its total length is about 11 miles (18 km). Santa Maria Creek, the smaller of the two streams, begins near the city of Ramona and flows northwards about 7 miles (11 km) through the Ramona Grasslands and Bandy Canyon. A third fork, Temescal Creek, rises in the Cleveland National Forest near Lake Henshaw and flows south about 9 miles (14 km) into Santa Ysabel Creek.
From there the river flows west past the city of Escondido, and under Interstate 15 before being impounded by the Lake Hodges Dam to form Lake Hodges. From the dam to its mouth, the river flows through the long and narrow San Dieguito River Park past Del Mar, and broadens into a tidal waterway and a 150-acre (0.61 km2) lagoon as it crosses under Interstate 5 to empty into the Pacific Ocean at Solana Beach.
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Wikipedia