Guadalupe Creek or Guadalupe Valley Creek is a short eastward-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 ...

whose watershed originates just east of the highest peak of

San Bruno Mountain San Bruno Mountain is horst fault block mountain located in northern San Mateo County, California; with some northern slopes crossing over into southern San Francisco, it is also surrounded by San Francisco Bay and the cities of Brisbane, Colma ...

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, 2020 census, the population was 764,442. Redwood City, California, Redwoo ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It courses through San Bruno Mountain State and County Park and

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

before entering the Brisbane Lagoon.

History

Guadalupe Valley was originally called Cañada de Guadalupe, and was part of the

Rancho Cañada de Guadalupe la Visitación y Rodeo Viejo Rancho Cañada de Guadalupe la Visitación y Rodeo Viejo (also called Ridley's Rancho) was a Mexican land grant in present-day San Mateo County, California and San Francisco County, California given in 1841 by Governor Juan Alvarado to Jacob P. ...

land grant awarded by General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo to his brother-in-law, Jacob P. Leese in 1841. Prior to this Manuel Sanchez had petitioned for the rancho of this name in 1835.

Watershed and course

Ocean watershed

Bay watershed

The Guadalupe Creek watershed begins on the northeast-facing slope of the peak of

as Devil's Arroyo, which descends quickly northwards to the head of the Guadalupe Valley. The confluence of Devil's Arroyo and Wax Myrtle Ravine is at the head of the Guadalupe Valley at elevation 200 feet, where the Guadalupe Creek mainstem flows eastward largely confined to underground pipes and ditches, emerging to daylight just east of Bayshore Boulevard. From there it flows for a few dozen yards to its mouth in Brisbane Lagoon. This lagoon is a remnant of

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland. San Francisco Bay drains water from a ...

, formed by the construction of the U. S. Highway 101 causeway, and became diminished when its north and central portions (which are now crossed by Visitacion Creek) were filled with garbage and landfill. Seasonal creeks which contribute to the Guadalupe Creek watershed include Owl Canyon and Buckeye Canyon. After passing into the lagoon, the waters of the Guadalupe Valley watershed pass through a culvert under the freeway into the Bay. Aerial view of Guadalope Quarry in Brisbane, California

Aerial view of Guadalope Quarry in Brisbane, California

Visitacion-Guadalupe Valley

Guadalupe Creek is part of the Visitacion-Guadalupe Valley Watershed, which is a large bowl straddling

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

and San Mateo Counties. It drains the area bounded by Bayview Hill (by

Candlestick Park Candlestick Park was an outdoor stadium on the West Coast of the United States, located in San Francisco's Bayview Heights area. The stadium was originally the home of Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants, who played there from 1960 un ...

), McLaren Ridge and San Bruno Mountain. The mountain’s highest peak reaches 1,314 feet, Bayview Hill’s summit is 500 feet, and the highest summit of McLaren Ridge is 515 feet.

Guadalupe Quarry

The Guadalupe Quarry is carved into the northeastern-facing slope of

on the south side of the Guadalupe Valley. It's located in the city of

Brisbane, California Brisbane (pron. , unlike Brisbane, Queensland, Australia) is a small city located in California in the northern part of San Mateo County on the lower slopes of San Bruno Mountain. It is located on the southern border of San Francisco, on the ...

Ecology

San Bruno Mountain hosts several endangered species and the Guadalupe Valley provides habitat for the

Mission blue The Mission blue (''Icaricia icarioides missionensis'') is a blue or lycaenid butterfly subspecies native to the San Francisco Bay Area of the United States. The butterfly has been declared as endangered by the US federal government. It is a su ...

(''Aricia icarioides missionensis''),

elfin Elfin may refer to: *ELFIN, a CubeSat developed by University of California, Los Angeles *Elfin (steamboat), a steamboat that ran on Lake Washington from 1891 to 1900 *Elfin of Alt Clut, ruler of Alt Clut, seventh century Scotland *Elfin, a charac ...

(''Callophrys mossii bayensis'') and callippe silverspot (''Speyeria callippe callippe'') butterflies, as well as the

San Francisco garter snake The San Francisco garter snake (''Thamnophis sirtalis tetrataenia'') is a slender multi-colored subspecies of the common garter snake. Designated as an endangered subspecies since the year 1967, it is endemic to San Mateo County and the extreme n ...

(''Thamnophis sirtalis tetrataenia'').

References

External links

*
The Visitacion / Guadalupe Valley Watershed: A Regional Perspective

San Bruno Mountain State & County Park

San Bruno Mountain Watch
{{Santa Cruz Mountains Rivers of San Mateo County, California Rivers of Northern California Tributaries of San Francisco Bay