Tunitas Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed March 15, 2011 stream in

San Mateo County, California San Mateo County ( ), officially the County of San Mateo, is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 764,442. Redwood City, California, Redwoo ...

. ''Tunitas'' is Spanish for "little prickly pears". An all-weather paved county road, Tunitas Creek Road, follows the creek from its source at on Kings Mountain in the

Santa Cruz Mountains The Santa Cruz Mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are a mountain range in central and Northern California, United States. They form a ridge down the San Francisco Peninsula, south of San Francisco. They separate the Pacific Ocean from ...

to the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

at Tunitas Beach.

History

The first European land exploration of

Alta California Alta California ('Upper California'), also known as ('New California') among other names, was a province of New Spain, formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but ...

, the Spanish Portolà expedition, traveled along the coast on its way north, camping for three days near today's San Gregorio, October 24–26, 1769. On the return journey to

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

, the party camped near

Half Moon Bay Half Moon Bay is a coastal city in San Mateo County, California, United States, approximately south of San Francisco. Its population was 11,795 as of the 2020 census. Immediately at the north of Half Moon Bay is Pillar Point Harbor and the un ...

on November 16, and at Tunitas Creek on November 17.

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

missionary

Juan Crespi ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

noted in his diary, "This morning broke very cloudy, and as soon as we started on our way it began to rain, and in the whole three

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

s (about ) that we traveled it was falling on us. We halted on the banks of a deep arroyo." The name "Arroyo de Las Tunitas" appears on the ''diseños'' (claim maps) of both

Rancho San Gregorio Rancho San Gregorio was a Mexican land grant in present day San Mateo County, California given in 1839 by Governor Juan Alvarado to Antonio Buelna. At the time, the grant was in Santa Cruz County; an 1868 boundary adjustment gave the land to ...

(1839) and Rancho Cañada Verde (1838) because it was part of the boundary between them. The cliffs just north of the Tunitas Creek outflow were the site of "Gordon's Chute", a ramp for sliding farm goods from the top of the cliffs to ships anchored in the rolling surf below. Gordon's Chute, named for its builder, local resident Alexander Gordon, was constructed in 1872 and lasted until 1885, when a storm blew it away.Gordon's Chute
/ref> Eyebolts for the chute can still be found in the cliff-face.

Tributaries

* Dry Creek *

Rings Gulch Rings Gulch is a valley in San Mateo County, California. It contains a stream which is a tributary of Tunitas Creek.

East Fork Tunitas Creek East Fork Tunitas Creek is a small river in San Mateo County, California and is a tributary of Tunitas Creek.Mitchell Creek

References

External links

Access to Tunitas Beach
Rivers of San Mateo County, California Rivers of Northern California {{California-river-stub

History

Tributaries

See also

References

External links