Ortigalita Creek, formerly Arroyo de Las Ortigalito (Little Nettle Creek) is a tributary

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 ...

of the San Joaquin River, in

Merced County, California Merced County ( ), is a county located in the northern San Joaquin Valley section of the Central Valley, in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 281,202. The county seat is Merced. The county is named after ...

. The source of Ortigalita Creek is at located near a peak on the Ortigalita Ridge 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 ...

. Its mouth is south southwest of

Los Banos, California Los Banos ( ), alternatively Los Baños ( ), is a city in Merced County, California, United States. It is located in the San Joaquin Valley in central California, near the junction of State Route 152 and Interstate 5. Its population was 45,532 ...

just as it emerges from the foothills before it reaches the California Aqueduct. Originally in years of heavy winter rainfall it may have reached the vicinity of the

Mud Slough The Laguna Creek watershed consists of of land within northern California's Alameda County, California, Alameda County. The watershed drains the foothills of the Diablo Range south of Niles Canyon. To the southeast, the area of Mission Peak Reg ...

of the

San Joaquin River The San Joaquin River (; es, Río San Joaquín) is the longest river of Central California. The long river starts in the high Sierra Nevada, and flows through the rich agricultural region of the northern San Joaquin Valley before reaching Suis ...

History

Arroyo de Las Ortigalito was a watering place on

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 ...

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 ...

between Arroyo de los Baños and Arroyita de Panoche.Mildred B. Hoover, et al. Historic Spots in California. 3rd edition. Stanford University Press, Stanford, 1966. p202. Arroyo de Las Ortigalito also was the southern boundary of

Rancho Panoche de San Juan y Los Carrisolitos Rancho Panoche de San Juan y Los Carrisalitos was a Mexican land grant in present-day Merced County, California given in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Julian Ursua and Pedro Romo. The name means "raw sugar of San Juan and the little patc ...

History

References

See also