::''This is not to be confused with other intermittent watercourses, in Arizona, in Colorado, and in New Mexico and Texas, also using the Carrizo name. For others see Carrizo Creek and Carrizo Wash (disambiguation).'' The Carrizo Creek and Carrizo Wash in California are a stream and an

arroyo Arroyo often refers to: * Arroyo (creek), an intermittently dry creek Arroyo may also refer to: People * Arroyo (surname) Places United States ;California * Arroyo Burro Beach, a public beach park in Santa Barbara County, California * Arroyo ...

that the stream flows into, in

San Diego County, California San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the fi ...

and Imperial County, California. The stream, Carrizo Creek, arises in the mountains of

, and terminates in Carrizo Wash in Imperial County, a tributary in turn to San Felipe Creek that terminates in the Salton Sea. The source of California's Carrizo Creek is in San Diego County, 1.2 miles north of the California-Mexico State boundary, at at an elevation of 3,210 feet, on the west side of the divide between Jacumba Valley and the valley of upper Boulder Creek. Carrizo Creek flows west then north northwest through Jacumba Valley then north through Carrizo Gorge and Carrizo Canyon, into Carrizo Valley where it is joined on the left by Vallecito Creek, as it turns east through the Carrizo Badlands where 3 miles east of the site of the old Carrizo Creek Station, at an elevation of , it becomes Carrizo Wash. Carrizo Wash terminates at its confluence with San Felipe Creek at .

History

Carrizo Creek, its wash and its tributary, Vallecito Creek, were the watercourses that carved the pathway from the

Peninsular Ranges The Peninsular Ranges (also called the Lower California province) are a group of mountain ranges that stretch from Southern California to the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula; they are part of the North American Coast Ranges, which ...

of Southern California through the Carrizo Badlands to the

Colorado Desert California's Colorado Desert is a part of the larger Sonoran Desert. It encompasses approximately , including the heavily irrigated Coachella and Imperial valleys. It is home to many unique flora and fauna. Geography and geology The Colorado De ...

. They provided a pathway and water for Native Americans travelers out into the desert and on to the Colorado River along the course of the distributary New or Alamo Rivers. Subsequently, from 1828 it was similarly used by Mexican travelers on the route of the Sonora Road to

Alta California Alta California ('Upper California'), also known as ('New 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 ...

, then by Americans on Cooke's Wagon Road and its successor the Southern Emigrant Trail. It was the route taken into California by the San Antonio-San Diego Mail Line and Overland Mail Company. Both companies used the Carrizo Creek Station at the lower end if the creek in the badlands.

Carrizo Wash

Carrizo Wash is a wash with its head at the

mouth In animal anatomy, the mouth, also known as the oral cavity, or in Latin cavum oris, is the opening through which many animals take in food and issue vocal sounds. It is also the cavity lying at the upper end of the alimentary canal, bounded on ...

of Carrizo Creek in the Carrizo Badlands located at , and its mouth at its confluence with San Felipe Creek, at an elevation of below sea level.

References

Rivers of San Diego County, California Rivers of Imperial County, California Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Rivers of Southern California {{California-river-stub