The Los Osos Valley is a

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

within

San Luis Obispo County San Luis Obispo County (), officially the County of San Luis Obispo, is a county on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 282,424. The county seat is San Luis Obispo. Junípero Serra fou ...

, in the

Central Coast of California The Central Coast is an area of California, roughly spanning the coastal region between Point Mugu and Monterey Bay. It lies northwest of Los Angeles and south of the San Francisco Bay Area, and includes the rugged, rural, and sparsely populat ...

region.

Geography

Los Osos Valley lies between southern

San Luis Obispo ; ; ; Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfway betwee ...

and Baywood-Los Osos. The town of

Los Osos Los Osos (Spanish for "the bears") is an unincorporated town in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast of California, Los Osos had a reported population of 14,465 in 2020. For statistical purposes, the ...

is in the valley. The

Irish Hills Irish Hills is an area of land located roughly in southeastern Jackson County and northwest Lenawee County in Southeast Michigan. It was named after the numerous Irish immigrants who settled there from 1830 until 1850. Today it is known thr ...

are along the south side, and five of the Nine Sisters volcanic mountains are along the north. Los Osos Creek flows through the valley to its

mouth A mouth also referred to as the oral is the body orifice through which many animals ingest food and animal communication#Auditory, vocalize. The body cavity immediately behind the mouth opening, known as the oral cavity (or in Latin), is also t ...

on southern

Morro Bay Morro Bay (''Morro'', Spanish for "Hill") is a seaside city in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast of California, the city's population was 10,757 as of the 2020 census, up from 10,234 at the 2010 ...

History

A prehistoric human habitation site was found at Los Osos Back Bay in the Los Osos Valley, of ancient

Chumash Chumash may refer to: *Chumash (Judaism), a Hebrew word for the Pentateuch, used in Judaism *Chumash people, a Native American people of southern California *Chumashan languages, Indigenous languages of California See also

* Pentateuch (dis ...

tribe. The

Portolá expedition thumbnail, 250px, Point of San Francisco Bay Discovery The Portolá expedition was a Spanish voyage of exploration in 1769–1770 that was the first recorded European exploration of the interior of the present-day California. It was led by Gas ...

passed through the valley in 1769, as recorded by padre

Juan Crespí Juan Crespí, OFM (Catalan language, Catalan: ''Joan Crespí''; 1 March 1721 – 1 January 1782) was a Franciscan missionary and explorer of The Californias, Las Californias. Biography A native of Majorca, Crespí entered the Franciscan ord ...

. The valley became part of the lands of the Mission San Luis Obispo in 1772. Victor Linares was granted mission lands in the valley that became the Rancho Cañada de los Osos on December 1, 1842, by Governor Juan B. Alvarado. The rancho lay west of

in the Los Osos Valley, between the

to the south and the Nine Sisters to the north. Ogden Hoffman, 1862, Reports of Land Cases Determined in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Numa Hubert, San Francisco.
/ref> Bancroft, Hubert Howe, History of California Vol. 4 (1840-1845), A. L. Bancroft & Company, San Francisco, 1886
/ref> In 1844, Victor Linares sold his rancho to James Scott and John Wilson who also bought the adjacent Rancho Pecho y Islay a strip of Pacific coastal terrace and the

bordering the terrace from Pecho Creek to the east and Islay Creek to the north. Scott and Wilson added it to their Los Osos rancho and combined them in a new 32,431 acre grant,

Rancho Cañada de los Osos y Pecho y Islay Rancho or Ranchos may refer to: Settlements and communities *Rancho, Aruba, former fishing village and neighbourhood of Oranjestad *Ranchos of California, 19th century land grants in Alta California ** List of California Ranchos * Ranchos, Buenos ...

from Governor

Pio Pico Pio or PIO may refer to: Places * Pio Lake, Italy * Pio Island, Solomon Islands * Pio Point, Bird Island, south Atlantic Ocean People * Pio (given name) * Pio (surname) * Pio (footballer, born 1986), Brazilian footballer * Pio (footballer, ...

in 1845.

Parks

The Los Osos Oaks State Natural Reserve preserves centuries-old Coast live oaks (''Quercus agrifolia'') growing atop relict sand dunes in the valley, just outside Los Osos. The Elfin Forest Natural Area is on the south side of Los Osos Creek's mouth on Morro Bay. A bear population is centered in the

Los Padres National Forest Los Padres National Forest is a United States national forest in Southern California, southern and central California. Administered by the United States Forest Service, Los Padres includes most of the mountainous land along the California coast ...

some away with bears occasionally wandering into the valley.

References

Valleys of San Luis Obispo County, California Morro Bay San Luis Obispo, California Geography of San Luis Obispo County, California Valleys of California {{SanLuisObispoCountyCA-geo-stub