Rock Creek is a

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 ...

that flows from the high Eastern

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 ...

to the

Owens River The Owens River is a river in eastern California in the United States, approximately long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 17, 2011, It drains into and through the ...

Mono County Mono County ( ) is a county located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,195, making it the fourth-least populous county in California. The county seat is Bridgeport. The coun ...

of eastern

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. The upper watershed is in the

John Muir Wilderness The John Muir Wilderness is a wilderness area that extends along the crest of the Sierra Nevada of California for , in the Inyo and Sierra National Forests. Established in 1964 by the Wilderness Act and named for naturalist John Muir, it encompa ...

of the Sierra and

Inyo National Forest Inyo National Forest is a United States National Forest covering parts of the eastern Sierra Nevada of California and the White Mountains of California and Nevada. The forest hosts several superlatives, including Mount Whitney, the highest poi ...

Course

Rock Creek drains from the

Sierra Crest The Sierra Crest is a roughly generally north-to-south ridgeline that demarcates the broad west and narrow east slopes of the Sierra Nevada and that extends as far east as the Sierra's topographic front (e.g., Diamond Mountains and Sierran esc ...

near Bear Creek Spire. Additional creek drainage is from the crest's

Mount Abbot Mount Abbot is a mountain in California's Sierra Nevada, in the John Muir Wilderness. It is located between Mount Mills and Mount Dade along the Sierra Crest and straddles the border between Fresno and Inyo counties. The peak was named for Hen ...

, Mount Mills, Ruby Peak, and

Mount Starr Mount Starr, elevation , is a mountain summit located on the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in northern California, United States. It is situated in the John Muir Wilderness on the common boundary shared by Sierra National Forest with ...

. They combine with flow from

Little Lakes Valley Rock Creek is a stream that flows from the high Eastern Sierra Nevada to the Owens River in Mono County of eastern California. The upper watershed is in the John Muir Wilderness of the Sierra and Inyo National Forests. Course Rock Creek drains ...

Rock Creek Lake Rock Creek Lake is an alpine lake along the Elkhorn Crest trail in the southern end of the Elkhorn Mountains in Baker County, eastern Oregon. It is located on the northern slope of Rock Creek Butte, the highest point in the Elkhorn Mountains ran ...

. From the lake Rock Creek flows north to the location known as Tom's Place along

U.S. Route 395 U.S. Route 395 (US 395) is a U.S. Route in the western United States. The southern terminus of the route is in the Mojave Desert at Interstate 15 near Hesperia. The northern terminus is at the Canada–US border near Laurier, where the road ...

, less than two miles from the Owens River. The creek, however, turns southeast and flows parallel to the Owens River (and is shown on maps as "Lower Rock Creek"), eventually joining the river near the mouth of the

Owens River Gorge The Owens River Gorge is a steep 10 mi (16 km) canyon on the upper Owens River in eastern California in the United States. The canyon is located at the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada mountains in southern Mono County, along the stre ...

. Upstream from Tom's Place, Rock Creek is long. Lower Rock Creek, below Tom's Place, flows an additional to the Owens River.

References

Rivers of Mono County, California Rivers of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Tributaries of the Owens River Inyo National Forest Sierra National Forest Rivers of Northern California Rivers of the Sierra Nevada in California {{MonoCountyCA-geo-stub

Course

See also

References