Walnut Creek is a major stream in

Coconino County Coconino County is a county in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. Its population was 145,101 at the 2020 census. The county seat is Flagstaff. The county takes its name from ''Cohonino'', a name applied to the Havasupai p ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

that is part of the Little Colorado River drainage basin. The creek flows about in a northeasterly direction from south of Flagstaff to near Winona.

Geography

Walnut Creek begins in a small valley near Mormon Mountain, in the

Coconino National Forest The Coconino National Forest is a 1.856-million acre (751,000 ha) United States National Forest located in northern Arizona in the vicinity of Flagstaff. Originally established in 1898 as the "San Francisco Mountains National Forest Reserve", th ...

. It flows northwest along the south side of Anderson Mesa where it is impounded in two reservoirs, Upper and Lower Lake Mary, which were dammed in the early 1900s to supply water to Flagstaff, several miles to the north. Before damming, Walnut Creek was one of the only reliable streams in this arid region, flowing consistently each spring with the melting of snowpack on the Colorado Plateau. After the Upper Lake Mary Dam was constructed in 1941, Walnut Creek dried up below the Lower Lake Mary Dam due to increased water diversions. Since then, the creek has flowed only during monsoon rains or exceptionally heavy snowmelt. The creek makes a sharp turn to the east at Fisher Point and carves the narrow, winding Walnut Canyon, a limestone gorge up to deep. About east of Flagstaff it passes through

Walnut Canyon National Monument Walnut Canyon National Monument (Hopi: Wupatupqa) is a United States National Monument located about southeast of downtown Flagstaff, Arizona, near Interstate 40. The canyon rim elevation is ; the canyon's floor is 350 ft lower. A long loo ...

, known for its

cliff dwelling In archaeology, cliff dwellings are dwellings formed by using niches or caves in high cliffs, and sometimes with excavation or additions in the way of masonry. Two special types of cliff dwelling are distinguished by archaeologists: the cliff ...

s constructed by the

Sinagua The Sinagua were a pre-Columbian culture that occupied a large area in central Arizona from the Little Colorado River, near Flagstaff, to the Verde River, near Sedona, including the Verde Valley, area around San Francisco Mountain, and signifi ...

people between 1100 and 1250 A.D. Near the end of the canyon the creek approaches Winona and crosses under

Interstate 40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west Interstate Highway running through the south-central portion of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and I-80. From west to ea ...

, before flowing north to its confluence with the Rio de Flag, forming San Francisco Wash. San Francisco Wash continues east, eventually discharging into Padre Canyon Wash, in turn flowing into Diablo Wash which joins the Little Colorado River near

Leupp, Arizona Leupp ( nv, ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Coconino County, Arizona, on the Navajo Nation, United States. The population was 951 at the 2010 census. In 1902 an Indian boarding school was constructed here, administered by the Burea ...

. The San Francisco Wash is sometimes considered the lower part of Walnut Creek, and the total length of the stream would be if this is included.

References

{{authority control Rivers of Coconino County, Arizona Rivers of Arizona

Geography

See also

References