Carneros Creek is a southward flowing

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 stream ...

originating in the Santa Ynez Mountains, in

Santa Barbara County, California Santa Barbara County, California, officially the County of Santa Barbara, is located in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 448,229. The county seat is Santa Barbara, and the largest city is Santa Maria. Santa Barba ...

. It flows to Lake Los Carneros Park, under U. S. Highway 101 where it runs in a man-made channel diverted to the west of

Santa Barbara Municipal Airport Santa Barbara Municipal Airport is west of downtown Santa Barbara, California, United States. SBA covers 948 acres (384 ha) of land and has three runways. It is near the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the city of Goleta. The a ...

, until it meets

Goleta Slough The Goleta Slough is an area of estuary, tidal creeks, tidal marsh, and wetlands near Goleta, California, United States. It primarily consists of the filled and unfilled remnants of the historic inner Goleta Bay about 8 miles (13 km) w ...

, from whence its waters flow to the Santa Barbara Channel of the

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

History

A place named ''Los Carneros'', which is Spanish for "sheep", is shown on the 1842 diseño of the Rancho Dos Pueblos Mexican land grant, and as an arroyo on the 1846 diseño of

Rancho La Goleta Rancho La Goleta was a Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Barbara County, California given in 1846 by Governor Pío Pico to Daniel A. Hill. The grant extended along the Pacific coast from today’s Fairview Avenue in present-day Goleta, ...

Watershed

The Carneros Creek official mainstem is long. It drains a watershed of and its Tecolotito Creek tributary drains the Glen Annie Canyon watershed. It drops rapidly from its source just south of the crest of the Santa Ynez Mountains through Bartlett Canyon in the Los Padres National Forest. After crossing the Tecolote Aqueduct and being joined by Dry Creek on the right (headed downstream), Carneros Creek becomes low gradient. As it passes to the west of Lake Los Carneros Park, it crosses beneath U.S. Highway 101 where it enters the Los Carneros Wetlands and is diverted to the west of the

. The Wetlands are located south of Highway 101 and north of Hollister Avenue and are a remnant of a large area that was once a part of the

. Carneros is estuarine from its mouth at the eastern end of Goleta Slough up to Hollister Avenue. Below Hollister Avenue, Carneros Creek is joined by Tecolotito Creek (Glen Annie Creek) (on the right) at the northwestern end of the slough. Before entering the Pacific Ocean at the east end of Goleta Slough, the waters of Carneros Creek are joined by San Pedro Creek and Atascadero Creek.

Recreation

Lake Los Carneros is a man-made historic duck pond with easy walking trails and birdwatching. The area includes the historic

Stow House The Stow House is a U.S. historical landmark in Goleta, California. Formerly the headquarters of Rancho La Patera, the Stow House, in the Carpenter Gothic style, is now the headquarters of Goleta Historical Society which preserves and interprets ...

References

External links

Santa Barbara Channelkeeper Goleta Stream Team
{{Authority control Rivers of Santa Barbara County, California Rivers of Southern California