Rancheria Creek is a long stream in northern

Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in California. It is bordered on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The p ...

mostly in

Tuolumne County Tuolumne County (), officially the County of Tuolumne, is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 55,620. The county seat and only incorporated city is Sonora. Tuolumne County comprises the ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and is a tributary of the

Tuolumne River The Tuolumne River ( Yokutsan: ''Tawalimnu'') flows for through Central California, from the high Sierra Nevada to join the San Joaquin River in the Central Valley. Originating at over above sea level in Yosemite National Park, the Tuolumne ...

. Draining a large area of the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

, it is the largest tributary of the Tuolumne within Yosemite National Park. The stream is labeled as Kerrick Creek on some early maps. The creek begins at Peeler Lake at the

Sierra Crest The Sierra Crest is a roughly generally north-to-south ridge, ridgeline that demarcates the broad west and narrow east slopes of the Sierra Nevada and that extends as far east as the Sierra's escarpment, topographic front (e.g., Diamond Mountain ...

, in Mono County, and immediately crosses westward into Tuolumne County. It flows in a southerly direction through Kerrick Meadow and a series of high mountain valleys until reaching Kerrick Canyon, where it turns abruptly west. The

Pacific Crest Trail The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), officially designated as the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, is a long-distance hiking and equestrian trail closely aligned with the highest portion of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges, which lie ...

parallels the creek through Kerrick Canyon. At the end of the canyon it receives a major tributary from Stubblefield Canyon and turns southwest, receiving Tilden Creek. Continuing southwest, it flows through rugged and complex granite formations, receives Breeze Creek, then turns west once more for its last few miles. It drops over Rancheria Falls before emptying into Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, adjacent to Tiltill Creek. Prior to the flooding of Hetch Hetchy Valley in 1923 with the construction of O'Shaughnessy Dam, Rancheria and Tiltill Creeks combined before joining the Tuolumne River on the valley floor.

References

Notes Rivers of Tuolumne County, California Rivers of Yosemite National Park {{California-river-stub

See also

References