Hospital Creek, originally Arroyo de Ospital, or Arroyo del Osnital 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 San Joaquin River draining eastern slopes of a part of the

Diablo Range The Diablo Range is a mountain range in the California Coast Ranges subdivision of the Pacific Coast Ranges in northern California, United States. It stretches from the eastern San Francisco Bay area at its northern end to the Salinas Valley are ...

within

San Joaquin County San Joaquin County (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''San Joaquín'', meaning "Joachim, St. Joachim"), officially the County of San Joaquin, is a county (United States), county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 20 ...

. The creek is approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed March 11, 2011

Course

It has its source on the southeast flank of

Mount Oso Mount Oso ( es, Cerro del Oso) is a mountain in Western Stanislaus County, California, and is located on the Diablo Range. At feet in elevation, it is the third highest point in Stanislaus County. There are many radio stations and an unused fo ...

, in

Stanislaus County , image_skyline = , image_caption = Images, from top down, left to right: Modesto Arch, Knights Ferry's General Store, a view of the Tuolumne River from Waterford , image_flag = , i ...

. From there it flows northwest then north through Hospital Creek Canyon around Mount Oso into San Joaquin County. It then turns east to dip back briefly over the border into Stanislaus County before turning back north into San Joaquin County flowing then northeast to emerge from the Diablo Range foothills. From the canyon mouth it flows east into the Central Valley of

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 ...

, United States. Though its downstream end is uncertain as it disappears into a former slough of the San Joaquin River in the

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven c ...

History

Originally called Arroyo de Ospital in the Diseño del Rancho Pescadero, this creek was a watering place on the

El Camino Viejo El Camino Viejo a Los Ángeles ( en, the Old Road to Los Angeles), also known as El Camino Viejo and the Old Los Angeles Trail, was the oldest north-south trail in the interior of Spanish colonial Las Californias (1769–1822) and Mexican Alta Cali ...

. A map of routes to the southern gold mines in 1851 showed this creek as Arroyo del Osnital. By 1857 Britton & Rey's Map Of The State Of California referred to the creek as Arroyo de Osnita. However by 1873, its name was changed to what it closely sounds like in English and was referred to as Hospital Creek on an official state of California Map.

Geology

East of the San Joaquin Fault in the vicinity of Hospital Creek there is a flow pattern of

alluvium Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluv ...

that has been reported as a mud flow. This flow pattern was deposited in the early

Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togethe ...

or the late

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

.Bartow, ''Geologic map of the east flank of the diablo range from Hospital Creek to Poverty Flats'' (1985)

References

{{reflist Rivers of San Joaquin County, California Rivers of Stanislaus County, California Tributaries of the San Joaquin River Diablo Range Geography of the San Joaquin Valley El Camino Viejo Rivers of Northern California

Course

History

Geology

See also

References