Purisima Creek is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed March 15, 2011 stream in

San Mateo County, California San Mateo County ( ), officially the County of San Mateo, is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 764,442. Redwood City, California, Redwood City is th ...

which rises north of Sierra Morena, a mountain in the

Santa Cruz Mountains The Santa Cruz Mountains ( Mutsun Ohlone: Mak-sah-re-jah, "Sharp Ridged Mountain of the Eagle" or "People of the Eagle Mountain") are a mountain range in central and Northern California, United States, constituting a part of the Pacific Coast R ...

, and flows westward to the Pacific Ocean south-southeast of Miramontes Point. Much of its watershed has been incorporated in the

Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve The Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve is located on the western slopes of historic Kings Mountain in Woodside, California. This preserve was established with a $2 million gift from the Save the Redwoods League. Purisima Creek ...

History

The first European land exploration of

Alta California Alta California (, ), also known as Nueva California () among other names, was a province of New Spain formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but was made a separat ...

, the Spanish Portolà expedition, passed through the area on its way north, camping near the creek on October 27, 1769. They stopped for the night at an abandoned Torose village at the northern side of the stream, close to the coast. The guides told them that the villagers had moved into the mountains. The stream was named Saint Ives. "...where we came upon an empty village; those belonging to the preceding place said they had moved into the mountains. We were accompanied by four heathens belonging to the spot we set out from." - Journal of Fray Juan Crespí. "The country had a gloomy aspect; the hills were bare and treeless, and, consequently, without fire-wood. On the northern side of this stream there were some abandoned Indian huts; all who had the curiosity to look in to see these were covered with fleas. On the road we had to dig a very long slope over which we had to make a passage in order to descend to a small stream where it empties into the sea." - Diary of Miguel Costansó.

Tributaries

*Walker Gulch *

Whittemore Gulch Whittemore Gulch is a valley in San Mateo County, California. It contains a small stream which is a tributary of Purisima Creek. The gulch is managed by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District as part of Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Pre ...

Grabtown Gulch Grabtown Gulch is a valley in San Mateo County, California. It contains a stream which is a tributary of Purisima Creek.

Soda Gulch Soda Gulch is a valley in San Mateo County, California. It contains a small stream which is a tributary of Purisima Creek. References See also *List of watercourses in the San Francisco Bay Area These watercourses (rivers, creeks, sloughs, e ...

Ecology

The

California Academy of Sciences The California Academy of Sciences is a research institute and natural history museum in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, that is among the largest List of natural history museums, museums of natural history in the world, housing over ...

has a

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 (), ...

(''Cervus canadensis nannodes'') skull fragment unearthed one mile inland from the mouth of Purisima Creek in 1951. Elk were thought to be extirpated from the entire state by 1873 when elk hunting was ultimately banned by the California Legislature, and current herds are descended from a small number of elk survivors discovered in southern

San Joaquin County San Joaquin County ( ; , meaning " St. Joachim"), officially the County of San Joaquin, is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 779,233. The county seat is Stockton. San Jo ...

References

Rivers of San Mateo County, California Rivers of Northern California {{California-river-stub