Lynch Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed March 9, 2011

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 ...

Sonoma County, California Sonoma County () is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 488,863. Its county seat and largest city is Santa Rosa, California, Santa Rosa. It is to the n ...

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 ...

which discharges into the

Petaluma River The Petaluma River is a river in the California counties of Sonoma and Marin that becomes a tidal slough for most of its length. The headwaters are in the area southwest of Cotati. The flow is generally southward through Petaluma's old town, ...

Course

Lynch Creek rises on the west flank of

Sonoma Mountain Sonoma Mountain is a prominent landform within the Sonoma Mountains of southern Sonoma County, California. At an elevation of , Sonoma Mountain offers expansive views of the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Sonoma Valley to the east. In fact, ...

and descends initially to the west. It flows under Sonoma Mountain Road, then turns southward and roughly parallels Lynch Road for about a mile (2 km). Just north of Adobe Road, it crosses under Sonoma Mountain Road again. After crossing Adobe Road, it flows through Rooster Run Golf Club and enters suburban

Petaluma Petaluma (Miwok: ''Péta Lúuma'') is a city in Sonoma County, California, located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Its population was 59,776 according to the 2020 census. Petaluma's name comes from the Miwok village nam ...

, where it flows southwestward. It crosses Sonoma Mountain Parkway and Maria Drive and follows the western edge of Lucchesi Park to North McDowell Boulevard. From the south side of the Boulevard, it continues southward, passing under

U.S. 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, on the West Coast of the United States. It is also known as (The Royal Roa ...

at Sonoma County milepost 5.19 to feed into the Petaluma River near Jess Avenue.

Bridges

Lynch Creek is spanned by several bridges, including: * at U.S. Route 101, a pair of concrete continuous slabs built in 1955, * at Sonoma Mountain Road northwest of Adobe Road, a

prestressed concrete Prestressed concrete is a form of concrete used in construction. It is substantially "prestressed" ( compressed) during production, in a manner that strengthens it against tensile forces which will exist when in service. Post-tensioned concreted i ...

tee beam A T-beam (or tee beam), used in construction, is a load-bearing structure of reinforced concrete, wood or metal, with a -shaped cross section. The top of the -shaped cross section serves as a flange or compression member in resisting compress ...

built in 1984, and * at Adobe Road south of Petaluma Hill Road, a steel bridge built in 1950 and reconstructed in 1963.

Ecology

Lynch Creek provides habitat for a variety of threatened and endangered species including chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), steelhead trout (''Oncorhyncus mykiss''), and the foothill yellow-legged frog (rana boylii).

References

{{San Francisco Bay watershed Rivers of Sonoma County, California Sonoma Mountains Tributaries of the Petaluma River Rivers of Northern California

Course

Bridges

Ecology

See also

References