Clear Creek (Ínaam in

Karuk The Karuk people are an indigenous people of California, and the Karuk Tribe is one of the largest tribes in California. Karuks are also enrolled in two other federally recognized tribes, the Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Ran ...

) is a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

of the upper

Sacramento River The Sacramento River ( es, Río Sacramento) is the principal river of Northern California in the United States and is the largest river in California. Rising in the Klamath Mountains, the river flows south for before reaching the Sacramento–S ...

in northern

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Geography

The creek is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed March 10, 2011 flowing in southern

Siskiyou County Siskiyou County (, ) is a county in the northernmost part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 44,076. Its county seat is Yreka and its highest point is Mount Shasta. It falls within the Cascadia bioregion ...

and northern

Shasta County Shasta County (), officially the County of Shasta, is a county in the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its population is 182,155 as of the 2020 census, up from 177,223 from the 2010 census. The county seat is Redding. Shasta ...

. Clear Creek is the first major Sacramento River tributary downstream of the

Shasta Dam Shasta Dam (called Kennett Dam before its construction) is a concrete arch-gravity dam across the Sacramento River in Northern California in the United States. At high, it is the eighth-tallest dam in the United States. Located at the north e ...

. Clear Creek originates in the

Trinity Mountains The Trinity Mountains are a subrange of the Klamath Mountains, one of the ranges within the California Coast Ranges and part the greater Pacific Coast Ranges, the coastal mountain system extending from Mexico to Alaska. The Trinity Mountains subran ...

, between

Shasta Lake Shasta Lake, also popularly known as Lake Shasta, is a reservoir in Shasta County, California, United States. It began to store water in 1944 due to the impounding of the Sacramento River by Shasta Dam, the ninth tallest dam in the United State ...

and

Trinity Lake Trinity Lake, previously called Clair Engle Lake, is an artificial lake on the Trinity River formed by the Trinity Dam and located in Trinity County, California, United States. The dam was built by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. The lake's cap ...

in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, and flows into Whiskeytown Lake reservoir, impounded by

Whiskeytown Dam Whiskeytown Dam (officially Clair A. Hill Whiskeytown Dam) is an earthfill dam on Clear Creek, a tributary of the Sacramento River of northern California in the United States. The dam is located about west of Redding, and impounds Whiskeytow ...

. Past the reservoir, the stream bed continues south until its

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...

with the Sacramento River. The Spring Creek Tunnel bypasses that section and delivers water from Whiskeytown Lake directly to

Keswick Reservoir Keswick may refer to: Places Australia *Keswick, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide **Keswick railway station, Adelaide **Adelaide Parklands Terminal (formerly Keswick Rail Terminal) Canada *Keswick, Edmonton, Alberta *Keswick, Ontario * Keswic ...

, both part of the

Central Valley Project The Central Valley Project (CVP) is a federal power and water management project in the U.S. state of California under the supervision of the United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR). It was devised in 1933 in order to provide irrigation an ...

. ;History The site along Clear Creek where

Pierson B. Reading Pierson Barton Reading (November 26, 1816 – May 29, 1868) (also referred to as Pearson, and as Parson) was a California pioneer. Life Reading was born in New Jersey. He came across country to California with Samuel J. Hensley as a member of th ...

discovered gold in 1848 was declared a

California Historical Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meeting at least one of ...

References

Rivers of Shasta County, California Rivers of Siskiyou County, California Tributaries of the Sacramento River Trinity Mountains (California) Central Valley Project Shasta-Trinity National Forest Rivers of Northern California {{California-river-stub