Tunitas Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
. 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 ...

. ''Tunitas'' is Spanish for "little prickly pears".

Course

The creek rises at an altitude of on Kings 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 to the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

at Tunitas Creek Beach. An all-weather paved county road, Tunitas Creek Road, follows its course. Steelhead trout have been found in the creek. Tunitas Creek Open Space Preserve, owned by Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, encompasses approximately along the 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, traveled along the coast on its way north, camping near today's San Gregorio, from October 24 to 26, 1769. On the return journey to

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, the party camped near

Half Moon Bay Half Moon Bay is a coastal city in San Mateo County, California, San Mateo County, California, United States, approximately south of San Francisco. Its population was 11,795 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Immediately north of Half Mo ...

on November 16, and at Tunitas Creek on November 17.

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

missionary

Juan Crespi ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. The name is of Hebrew origin and has the meaning "God has been gracious." It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking countries around the world and in the Philipp ...

noted in his diary: "This morning broke very cloudy, and as soon as we started on our way it began to rain, and in the whole three leagues bout that we traveled it was falling on us. We halted on the banks of a deep arroyo." The name "Arroyo de Las Tunitas" appears on the ''diseños'' (claim maps) of both Rancho San Gregorio (1839) and Rancho Cañada Verde (1838) because it was part of the boundary between them. Tunitas Creek Beach is enclosed by cliffs. The cliffs just north of the creek outflow were the site of "Gordon's Chute", a ramp for sliding farm goods from the top of the cliffs to ships anchored below. Constructed in 1872 by Alexander Gordon, the chute was destroyed by a storm in 1885; eyebolts remain in the cliff-face. The beach was formerly private, with a house on the cliff top, and was owned from 1998 to 2017 by a trust of musician

Chris Isaak Christopher Joseph Isaak (born June 26, 1956) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional actor. Noted for his reverb-laden rockabilly revivalist style and wide vocal range, he is popularly known for his breakthrough hit and sig ...

. The property, comprising was then purchased by the Peninsula Open Space Trust, who transferred it in 2020 to San Mateo County. In 2023, the county approved a project to create a public park, scheduled to open in 2024 after construction including creation of trails, parking, restrooms, and a ranger station.

Tributaries

* Dry Creek * Rings Gulch * East Fork Tunitas Creek * Mitchell Creek

References

External links

*{{Commons category-inline, Tunitas Creek
Tunitas Creek Beach
at County of San Mateo parks Rivers of San Mateo County, California Rivers of Northern California

Course

History

Tributaries

See also

References

External links