Salt Creek or Rio Salitroso is a tributary stream or
wash
WASH (or Watsan, WaSH) is an acronym that stands for "water, sanitation and hygiene". It is used widely by non-governmental organizations and aid agencies in developing countries. The purposes of providing access to WASH services include achievin ...
of the
Amargosa River
The Amargosa River is an intermittent waterway, 185 miles (298 km) long, in southern Nevada and eastern California in the United States. It drains a high desert region, the Amargosa Valley in the Amargosa Desert northwest of Las Vegas, int ...
, in
San Bernardino County, California
San Bernardino County (), officially the County of San Bernardino, is a County (United States), county located in the Southern California, southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Inland Empire area. As of the ...
. It was named Rio Salitroso, on January 16, 1830, by
Antonio Armijo
Antonio Mariano Armijo (1804–1850) was a Spanish explorer
Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians.
Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of ...
, whose expedition subsequently followed it up towards the
Mojave River
The Mojave River is an intermittent river in the eastern San Bernardino Mountains and the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County, California, United States. Most of its flow is underground, while its surface channels remain dry most of the time, ...
, as they established the first route of the
Old Spanish Trail.
The mouth of Salt Creek is at its confluence with the Amargosa River at an elevation of . Its source is at at an elevation of in the north slope of the
Soda Mountains
The Soda Mountains are located in the eastern Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County, California, USA. The range lies to the north of Interstate 15 west of the town of Baker.
Geography
The range reaches an elevation of at the western end of the r ...
northwest of
Baker, California
Baker is a census-designated place located in San Bernardino County, California, US. As of the 2010 census, the CDP had a total population of 735. Baker's ZIP Code is 92309 and the community is within area codes 442 and 760.
History
Baker w ...
. From there it flows down into
Silurian Valley
Silurian Valley is a valley in the Mojave Desert, in San Bernardino County, California. The valley trends in a north–south direction, its mouth located just southeast of the south end of Death Valley at . Its head is at . The valley is drained ...
to
Dry Sand Lake at and then to another named
Silurian Lake, flowing northwest, gathering in
Kingston Wash
Kingston may refer to:
Places
* List of places called Kingston, including the five most populated:
** Kingston, Jamaica
** Kingston upon Hull, England
** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia
** Kingston, Ontario, Canada
** Kingston upon Thames, ...
from the east, before flowing out of the valley through the
Salt Spring Hills
The Salt Spring Hills are a low mountain range in the Mojave Desert, in northern San Bernardino County, California. They are just outside the southeastern corner of Death Valley National Park, southeast of the Saddle Peak Hills. The road betwee ...
to the Amargosa River beyond in
Death Valley
Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert, bordering the Great Basin Desert. During summer, it is the Highest temperature recorded on Earth, hottest place on Earth.
Death Valley's Badwater Basin is the ...
.
Soda Lake
A soda lake or alkaline lake is a lake on the strongly alkaline side of neutrality, typically with a pH value between 9 and 12. They are characterized by high concentrations of carbonate salts, typically sodium carbonate (and related salt complex ...
may drain into the Dry Sand Lake in Salt Creek's upper reach through a wash from
Silver Lake
Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...
in extremely rare wet years when both lakes fill and overflow with water from rain or from the Mojave River.
References
Rivers of Southern California
Rivers of San Bernardino County, California
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