El Horno Creek, or Horno Creek (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

: "Oven Creek"), is a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...

stream of

San Juan Creek San Juan Creek, also called the San Juan River, is a long stream in Orange and Riverside Counties, draining a watershed of .7.5 Minute Quadrangle Map, U.S. Geological Survey, San Juan Capistrano, 1968, photorevised 1981 Its mainstem begins i ...

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. It is approximately long and drains an area of . The creek joins San Juan Creek on the right bank, only a few hundred yards upstream of the

Trabuco Creek Arroyo Trabuco (known also as Trabuco Creek) is a -long stream in coastal southern California in the United States. Rising in a rugged canyon in the Santa Ana Mountains of Orange County, the creek flows west and southwest before emptying into San ...

confluence, within the city limits of

San Juan Capistrano San Juan Capistrano (Spanish for " St. John of Capistrano") is a city in Orange County, California, located along the Orange Coast. The population was 34,593 at the 2010 census. San Juan Capistrano was founded by the Spanish in 1776, when St ...

. The creek begins in the

foothills Foothills or piedmont are geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low relief hills and the adjacent topogr ...

of the

Santa Ana Mountains The Santa Ana Mountains are a short peninsular mountain range along the coast of Southern California in the United States. They extend for approximately southeast of the Los Angeles Basin largely along the border between Orange and Riverside c ...

(), in the mostly residential CDP of

Ladera Ranch Ladera Ranch is a master-planned community and census-designated place located in south Orange County, California, just outside the city limits of San Juan Capistrano, Rancho Santa Margarita and Mission Viejo. History Ladera Ranch is a planne ...

. The headwaters of the creek were formerly divided into two canyons, but during the development of Ladera Ranch starting in the late 1990s, the area was regraded, and the headwaters were combined into a single channel. The creek flows southwest through a small flood control dam and into San Juan Capistrano, where it crosses under

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...

and turns south, bisecting San Juan Elementary School. Shortly past the school, the creek enters an underground concrete channel passing under the I-5/ CA 74 interchange and flows into San Juan Creek at (). Although significant stretches of the creek remain above ground,

riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks a ...

habitat along the creek remains "sporadic" despite its

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wid ...

flow, mainly due to pollution from stormwater.

References

{{Orange County major watersheds Orange County, California articles needing infoboxes Rivers of Orange County, California San Juan Creek Rivers of Southern California