California Wash is an arroyo

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

to the Muddy River, in

Clark County, Nevada Clark County is the most populous County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Nevada with 2,265,461 residents as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The county is the location of the state's three largest cities, Las Vegas (t ...

. Its mouth is at its confluence with the Muddy River over a mile southwest of Moapa and a mile and a half west of

Glendale, Nevada Glendale is an unincorporated community and former town in Clark County, Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Ari ...

. Its source is at an elevation of 3320 feet at the southwestern end of the

Muddy Mountains The Muddy Mountains are a large mountain range in Clark County, Nevada. The Muddy Mountains surround a north section of Bitter Spring Valley, which also lies at the northwest perimeter of the Black Mountains, lying on a north shore of an east-w ...

, at . From there it drains northeastward to its mouth on the Muddy River.

History

California Wash was named for the ''California Crossing'' of the Muddy River at its mouth by the

Mormon Road Mormon Road, also known to the 49ers as the Southern Route, of the California Trail in the Western United States, was a seasonal wagon road pioneered by a Mormon party from Salt Lake City, Utah led by Jefferson Hunt, that followed the route of S ...

, and for the fact that the Mormon Road to California followed the wash from that crossing for many miles of the 52.6 mile water-less stretch of desert between the Muddy River and

Las Vegas Wash Las Vegas Wash is a 12-mile-long stream (an "arroyo" or "wash") which feeds most of the Las Vegas Valley's excess water into Lake Mead. The wash is sometimes called an ''urban river'', and it exists in its present capacity because of an urban pop ...

References

Rivers of Clark County, Nevada Washes of Nevada Old Spanish Trail (trade route) Mormon Road {{ClarkCountyNV-geo-stub