San Juan Valley, sometimes called San Benito Valley formerly Canada de San Benito or Llano De San Juan is a valley that has its head near the

Gabilan Range The Gabilan Range or Gabilán Range (Spanish for "sparrow hawk") is a mountain range in the inner California Coast Ranges System, located in Monterey County and San Benito County of central California. Pinnacles National Park is located in the s ...

. Bounded on the north by the Lomerias Muertas and the Flint Hills and south and east by the Gabilan Range, and the gap between the Gabilan Range and Flint Hills where the San Benito River enters the valley from the east. It terminated where the San Benito River has its confluence the

Pajaro River The Pajaro River (''pájaro'' is ''bird'' in Spanish language, Spanish) is a U.S. river in the Central Coast (California), Central Coast region of California, forming part of the border between San Benito County, California, San Benito and Sant ...

, about upstream from the river's outlet in

Monterey Bay Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean located on the coast of the U.S. state of California, south of the San Francisco Bay Area. San Francisco itself is further north along the coast, by about 75 miles (120 km), accessible via California S ...

. It is the lowest part of the watershed of the San Benito River and can be considered part of the San Benito Valley. Named for the

Mission San Juan Bautista Mission San Juan Bautista is a Spanish mission in San Juan Bautista, San Benito County, California. Founded on June 24, 1797, by Fermín de Lasuén of the Franciscan order, the mission was the fifteenth of the Spanish missions established in ...

which was established in this valley.

References

{{Authority control Valleys of San Benito County, California Valleys of California