Cottonwood Creek is a southeastward-flowing
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 ...
stream
A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...
of
San Luis Creek,
[U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data]
The National Map
, accessed March 15, 2011 originating in the eastern foothills of the
Diablo Range
The Diablo Range is a mountain range in the California Coast Ranges subdivision of the Pacific Coast Ranges in northern California, United States. It stretches from the eastern San Francisco Bay Area at its northern end to the Salinas Valley a ...
in
Merced County, California
Merced County ( ) is a County (United States), county located in the northern San Joaquin Valley section of the Central Valley (California), Central Valley, in the U.S. state of California.
As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the ...
. The creek's mouth, before the
San Luis Dam was built across the course of San Luis Creek, was originally at its confluence with
San Luis Creek at approximately . Today, Cottonwood Creek enters
San Luis Reservoir
The San Luis Reservoir is an artificial lake on San Luis Creek (California), San Luis Creek in the eastern slopes of the Diablo Range of Merced County, California, approximately west of Los Banos, California, Los Banos on California State Rou ...
, which raises the elevation of the creek's mouth to , where it becomes Cottonwood Bay on the north side of the reservoir. The source of the creek is at
Red Hill, a
summit
A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous.
The term (mountain top) is generally used only for ...
on the eastern slope of the Diablo Range.
History
Cottonwood Creek, originally named by the Spanish Arroyo Alamos, was named for the
Fremont cottonwood (''Populus fremontii'') trees which are still abundant along the lower creek.
Ecology and Conservation
The Upper and Lower Cottonwood Creek Wildlife Areas are administered by the
California Department of Fish and Wildlife
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), formerly known as the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), is an American state agency under the California Natural Resources Agency. The Department of Fish and Wildlife manages ...
(CDFW), and bracket the historic mouth of Cottonwood Creek, now submerged as Cottonwood Bay on
San Luis Reservoir
The San Luis Reservoir is an artificial lake on San Luis Creek (California), San Luis Creek in the eastern slopes of the Diablo Range of Merced County, California, approximately west of Los Banos, California, Los Banos on California State Rou ...
. This area is now home to a herd of
tule elk
The tule elk (''Cervus canadensis nannodes'') is a subspecies of elk found only in California, ranging from the grasslands and marshlands of the Central Valley to the grassy hills on the coast. The subspecies name derives from the tule (), ...
, visible from the
Pacheco Pass
Pacheco Pass, elevation , is a low mountain pass located in the Diablo Range in southeastern Santa Clara County, California. It is the main route through the hills separating the Santa Clara Valley and the Central Valley.
As with most passes ...
(
Highway 152), which dispersed there from 1978 to 1981 CDFW translocations of the large
ungulate
Ungulates ( ) are members of the diverse clade Euungulata ("true ungulates"), which primarily consists of large mammals with Hoof, hooves. Once part of the clade "Ungulata" along with the clade Paenungulata, "Ungulata" has since been determined ...
s to the
Hewlett-
Packard
Packard (formerly the Packard Motor Car Company) was an American luxury automobile company located in Detroit, Michigan. The first Packard automobiles were produced in 1899, and the last Packards were built in South Bend, Indiana, in 1958.
One ...
San Felipe Ranch on
Mt. Hamilton in
Santa Clara County
Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S. state of California, with a population of 1,936,259 as of the 2020 census. Santa Clara County and neighboring San Benito County form the ...
.
See also
*
San Luis Reservoir
The San Luis Reservoir is an artificial lake on San Luis Creek (California), San Luis Creek in the eastern slopes of the Diablo Range of Merced County, California, approximately west of Los Banos, California, Los Banos on California State Rou ...
References
{{reflist
External links
CDFW page for Cottonwood Creek Wildlife Area
Rivers of Merced County, California
Rivers of Northern California