Dry Creek (formerly called Linda Creek) is a long

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 ...

in Placer County, California, tributary to the Sacramento River via

Steelhead Creek Steelhead, or occasionally steelhead trout, is the common name of the anadromous form of the coastal rainbow trout or redband trout (O. m. gairdneri). Steelhead are native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific basin in Northeast Asia and N ...

. Its watershed lies within the

Sacramento Valley , photo =Sacramento Riverfront.jpg , photo_caption= Sacramento , map_image=Map california central valley.jpg , map_caption= The Central Valley of California , location = California, United States , coordinates = , boundaries = Sierra Nevada (ea ...

. Because suburban development borders much of its length, the stream is noted for its capacity to cause local flooding and as a recreational attraction.

Route

Placer County

The Dry Creek watershed headwaters are in western Placer County, in the foothills of

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

. A number of smaller streams meet in

Roseville Roseville may refer to: Australia *Roseville, New South Wales Canada * Roseville, Ontario Malta * RoseVille (aka Villa Roseville), a house in Attard, Malta South Africa *Roseville, Pretoria, a suburb United Kingdom *Roseville, Dudley United S ...

, and the combined stream is called Dry Creek starting from the confluence of Antelope Creek and Miners Ravine. Dry Creek flows first southwest through Royer Park in downtown Roseville. Then it meets Cirby Creek and continues west across a Union Pacific railyard, past a City of Roseville wastewater treatment plant, into unincorporated Placer County, and then southwest again toward Sacramento.US Geological Survey Topographical Maps
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Sacramento County

After crossing into Sacramento County, Dry Creek flows south-southwest between Gibson Ranch County Park (to the west) and the city of

Antelope The term antelope is used to refer to many species of even-toed ruminant that are indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelope comprise a wastebasket taxon defined as any of numerous Old World grazing and browsing hoofed mammals ...

(to the east). Then it flows southwest through the community of

Rio Linda Rio Linda (Spanish: ''Río Linda'', meaning "Pretty River") is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sacramento County, California. It is part of the Sacramento metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the CDP population was 15,106, up from 10,466 a ...

, mostly split into two parallel branches that enclose a long narrow strip of land called Cherry Island. Finally, Dry Creek enters the

City of Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...

northwest of Robla, flows west-southwest (forming a small

delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also re ...

) and merges with Steelhead Creek (

Natomas East Main Drainage Canal The Natomas East Main Drainage Canal, also known as Steelhead Creek, flows into the Sacramento River in Sacramento County, California Sacramento County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the popul ...

). Steelhead Creek flows south into Discovery Park in

American River Parkway The American River Parkway is a parkway that runs along the American River throughout Sacramento County, California and consists of many smaller parks and boat launching points. It can be accessed by various exits off U.S. Route 50 in Sacramento C ...

and then west (parallel with American River) into Sacramento River.

Tributaries

Dry Creek tributaries include:Placer County: Dry Creek Greenway Regional Vision
/ref> * Antelope Creek ** Clover Valley Creek * Miners Ravine ** Secret Ravine *** Boardman Canal ***Sucker Ravine ** False Ravine **Whites Ravine * Cirby Creek ** Linda Creek *** Strap Ravine *** Swan Stream * Goat Creek (aka. Sierra Creek)

Environmental conditions in the Roseville area

Historically Dry Creek and its tributaries have supported

anadromous Fish migration is mass relocation by fish from one area or body of water to another. Many types of fish migrate on a regular basis, on time scales ranging from daily to annually or longer, and over distances ranging from a few metres to thousan ...

fish. In the Dry Creek watershed four insecticides ( DDT, aldrin, heptachlor, and

dieldrin Dieldrin is an organochloride originally produced in 1948 by J. Hyman & Co, Denver, as an insecticide. Dieldrin is closely related to aldrin, which reacts further to form dieldrin. Aldrin is not toxic to insects; it is oxidized in the insect to fo ...

, were used extensively for soil insect control between 1945 and 1965;''Environmental Site Assessment for Assessor's Parcel Numbers 472-170-26, 472-170-18, 472-170-01, and 472-170-23 on Cirby Way, Roseville, California'', Earth Metrics Rpt. 10357, November 30, 1989 certain residues of these chemical persist in upper soils of some of the upper Dry Creek watershed. In addition there have been instances of subsurface fuel releases.

References