Morrell Canyon Creek is a

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 ...

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 ...

, tributary to

San Juan Creek San Juan Creek, also called the San Juan River, is a long stream in Orange and Riverside Counties, draining a watershed of .7.5 Minute Quadrangle Map, U.S. Geological Survey, San Juan Capistrano, 1968, photorevised 1981 Its mainstem begins in ...

, located in the

Cleveland National Forest Cleveland National Forest encompasses 460,000 acres (), mostly of chaparral, with a few riparian areas. A warm dry mediterranean climate prevails over the forest. It is the southernmost U.S. National Forest of California. It is administered by th ...

Riverside County, California Riverside County is a County (United States), county located in the southern California, southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most ...

, at an elevation of , in the

Elsinore Mountains The Elsinore Mountains are a ridge of mountains within the larger range of the Santa Ana Mountains, in the Cleveland National Forest, Riverside County, California, United States. the tallest peaks within the range is the unofficially named San Mateo ...

northeast of

Elsinore Peak Elsinore Peak is a named summit, at the southern end of the mountain ridge running southeast from the vicinity east of El Cariso in the Elsinore Mountains, in Riverside County, California in the United States The United States of Americ ...

. It arises on the eastern slope of

San Mateo Peak San Mateo Peak is the unofficially named peak, at the western end of the ridge running west then northwest from Elsinore Peak to Morrell Canyon, south and west of the Morrell Potrero in the Elsinore Mountains of the Santa Ana Mountain Range. ...

.USGS Map Name: Wildomar, CA, Map Center: N33° 36' 49" W117° 22' 18" from topoquest.com accessed on 5/3/20
/ref> An eastern fork draining the Morrell Potrero joins it a little over a mile north of its source and then flows northwestward about a third of a mile where it turns southeast descending the narrow Morrell Canyon east of Lion Spring. After descending 2.5 miles it turns north for half a mile then returns to a southwestern direction for another mile, the canyon widening here until it turns northwestward and down a steep canyon again for half a mile where it takes in from the right Decker Canyon Creek and Long Canyon Creek. It then turns southwestward again into a wider canyon and descends to its confluence with

Bear Canyon Creek Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the North ...

and becomes the head of San Juan Creek.Morrell Canyon, California, USGS Map Name: Sitton Peak, CA, Map Center: N33° 36' 47" W117° 26' 7" from topoquest.com accessed on 5/3/2013
/ref>

References

Rivers of Riverside County, California San Juan Creek Santa Ana Mountains Cleveland National Forest Rivers of Southern California {{California-river-stub