Morro Creek is a coastal
stream
A stream is a continuous body of surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to by a variety of local or regional names. Long large streams ...
in
San Luis Obispo County
San Luis Obispo County (), officially the County of San Luis Obispo, is a county on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 282,424. The county seat is San Luis Obispo.
Junípero Serra founded the Mis ...
, in the central region of the
U.S. state of
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 ...
. The watercourse flows from the
Santa Lucia Mountains
The Santa Lucia Mountains (sæntə luˈsiːə) or Santa Lucia Range is a rugged mountain range in coastal central California, running from Carmel southeast for to the Cuyama River in San Luis Obispo County. The range is never more than from ...
to discharge into 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 conti ...
, at its mouth on
Estero Bay, near the city of
Morro Bay.
Natural history
The creek is in the
coastal sage and chaparral section of the
California chaparral and woodlands
The California chaparral and woodlands is a terrestrial ecoregion of southwestern Oregon, northern, central, and southern California (United States) and northwestern Baja California (Mexico), located on the west coast of North America. It is a ...
Ecoregion
An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...
. Historically this watershed had
habitat
In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
s containing considerable amounts of
chaparral
Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranea ...
, and scarce
Oak woodlands, and
Grey Pine (''Pinus sabiniana'') trees.
Cultural history
The lower reaches of Morro Creek were used as a significant
settlement
Settlement may refer to:
* Human settlement, a community where people live
*Settlement (structural), the distortion or disruption of parts of a building
*Closing (real estate), the final step in executing a real estate transaction
*Settlement (fin ...
of the
Chumash tribe since at least the
Millingstone Horizon.
There is also incidence of historic mining of chromium within the catchment basin.
[USGS, 1910] It was used extensively for grazing by the cattle ranches.
See also
*
Los Osos Creek
*
Morro Bay State Park
*
Morro Bay State Park Museum of Natural History
*
Morro Bay State Marine Recreational Management Area and Morro Bay State Marine Reserve
*
Morro Rock
Morro Rock ( Salinan: ''Le'samo; ''Chumash: ''Lisamu; Spanish: ''El Morro'') is a volcanic plug in Morro Bay, California, on the Pacific Coast at the entrance to Morro Bay harbor. A causeway connects it with the shore, making it a tied isl ...
Notes
References
* ''USGS Bulletin'' (1910) United States Geological Survey, Published by The Survey, Item notes: no.430
* C.Michael Hogan (2008) ''Morro Creek'', ed. by A. Burnha
Rivers of San Luis Obispo County, California
Morro Bay
Rivers of Southern California
{{California-river-stub