West Union Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed September 17, 2011

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...

originating on the eastern slope of 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 ...

, 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 ...

, United States. It flows easterly down to the valley formed by the San Andreas Rift where it turns near the Phleger Estate to flow southeasterly on an unusually level course (for a mountain stream) to Adobe Corner in the town of Woodside where it then joins Bear Gulch Creek. This in turn flows to the

San Francisquito Creek San Francisquito Creek (Spanish for "Little San Francisco"—the "little" referring to size of the settlement compared to Mission San Francisco de Asís) is a stream, creek that flows into southwest San Francisco Bay in California, United State ...

and ultimately, the

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay (Chochenyo language, Chochenyo: 'ommu) is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the cities of San Francisco, California, San ...

History

In August 1840, the Governor of Spanish California granted the land, later called

Rancho Cañada de Raymundo Rancho Cañada de Raymundo was a Mexican land grant in present-day San Mateo County, California given August 4, 1840 to Raimundo (also known as Raymundo), a native of Baja California, who was sent out by the padres of Mission Santa Clara to capt ...

, to John Coppinger, an Irishman who had become a naturalized Mexican citizen. This ranch contained the which are now Huddart County Park. The area

redwood Sequoioideae, commonly referred to as redwoods, is a subfamily of Pinophyta, coniferous trees within the family (biology), family Cupressaceae, that range in the Northern Hemisphere, northern hemisphere. It includes the List of superlative tree ...

s were an important source of lumber exports. According to Mexican government records of 1841, 100,000 board feet of wood were ready at the embarcadero near

Mission Santa Clara Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality *Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * O ...

for export to the

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands () are an archipelago of eight major volcanic islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the Pacific Ocean, North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the Hawaii (island), island of Hawaii in the south to nort ...

, presumably the source of this timber was Coppinger's Rancho. Willard Whipple was one of many area lumbermen who dragged logs to the port at Redwood City. His Whipple's Mill Road has come to be known as Whipple Avenue. He was a

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Unio ...

sympathizer in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

and named the creek on which his mills operated West Union Creek. Whipple built his steam-powered Upper Mill in late 1852 at the site of today’s Phleger House (now occupied by

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...

founder, Gordon E. Moore) on the Phleger Estate.

Watershed

The watershed drains about . Numerous steep gulches drain the eastern slope of the

to nourish West Union Creek. Named tributaries include McGarvey Gulch, Squealer Gulch, Tripp Gulch, and Appletree Gulch. McGarvey Gulch joins West Union Creek at Huddart County Park. Although West Union Creek runs dry most summers, it has perennial pools that provide refugia for steelhead trout, the

anadromous Fish migration is mass relocation by fish from one area or body of water to another. Many types of fish migrate on a regular basis, on time scales ranging from daily to annually or longer, and over distances ranging from a few metres to thousa ...

form of rainbow trout.

Ecology

Steelhead trout Steelhead, or occasionally steelhead trout, is the anadromous form of the coastal rainbow trout or Columbia River redband trout (''O. m. gairdneri'', also called redband steelhead). Steelhead are native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacif ...

(''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') migrate from the Bay to spawn in Bear Creek and its West Union and Bear Gulch Creeks tributaries. They are listed as a threatened species under the

Endangered Species Act The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA; 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq.) is the primary law in the United States for protecting and conserving imperiled species. Designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of e ...

. Steelhead smolt spend the first two years of their lives in freshwater, requiring perennial streams, or at least pools, to survive. The anomalously low gradient of the channel of West Union Creek is related to its course along the

San Andreas Fault The San Andreas Fault is a continental Fault (geology)#Strike-slip faults, right-lateral strike-slip transform fault that extends roughly through the U.S. state of California. It forms part of the tectonics, tectonic boundary between the Paci ...

and creates high quality steelhead habitat, as do the numerous seeps and springs along the fault. The permanent pools created by these seeps and springs are crucial to the survival of steelhead young. In a 2001 report thirty four barriers to trout migration were identified within Bear Creek and its West Union Creek, Bear Gulch, Squealer Gulch, and McGarvey Gulch tributaries. That report identified the culvert for McGarvey Gulch creek at the Richards Road crossing in Huddart County Park as a significant migration barrier for adult and juvenile steelhead and was reconstructed with funds from the State Department of Transportation’s San Francisco Bay Salmonid Habitat Restoration Fund.

Recreation

Hiking trails along West Union Creek include the Miramontes Trail which originates in Huddart County Park. It can also be accessed by the Crystal Springs Trail from

Edgewood County Park Edgewood County Park and Natural Preserve is a protected area located in San Mateo County, California, United States, and is best known for its spring wildflower displays. The park receives about 50,000 visitors each year. Description Edgewood ...

References

External links

San Francisquito Watershed & Alluvial Fan
at

Oakland Museum of California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

website
San Francisquito Watershed Council
prepared by the

The Creeks that Flow through Woodside
by the Bear Creek League of Advocates for the Watershed (Bear CLAW) {{Santa Cruz Mountains Woodside, California Rivers of San Mateo County, California Rivers of Northern California Tributaries of San Francisquito Creek