Smith Creek (Santa Clara County, California)
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Smith Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed February 27, 2016
perennial 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 stream ...
which flows along the western flank of Mount Hamilton in
Santa Clara County Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S. state of California, with a population of 1,936,259 as of the 2020 census. Santa Clara County and neighboring San Benito County form the ...
. The creek begins near Bollinger Ridge, about 7.7 km south-southwest of Mount Hamilton.


History

Some of the early recorded history of the Smith Creek watershed is associated with the pioneer family of the Winsors. Where Mt. Hamilton Road crosses Smith Creek, there used to be the Hotel Santa Ysabel.


Watershed and course

Smith Creek arises at then flows westerly through Horse Valley, then turns northwest. It receives Sulphur Creek before crossing Mount Hamilton Road about 12.7 km west of Mount Hamilton (the Smith Creek Ranger Station/CAL FIRE is located at this crossing at 22805 Mt. Hamilton Road). The creek continues northwest along the eastern boundary of Joseph D. Grant County Park and joins Isabel Creek about 15.3 km WNW of Mount Hamilton at , forming Arroyo Hondo and eventually joining Calaveras Creek in
Calaveras Reservoir Calaveras Reservoir is located primarily in Santa Clara County, California, with a small portion and its dam in Alameda County, California. In Spanish, Calaveras means "skulls". The reservoir is fed mainly by Arroyo Hondo (Santa Clara County, ...
. Calaveras Creek exits the reservoir and joins
Alameda Creek Alameda Creek () is a large perennial stream in the San Francisco Bay Area. The creek runs for from a lake northeast of Packard Ridge to the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay by way of Niles Canyon and a flood control channel. Along its course, ...
before final terminating in
San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay (Chochenyo language, Chochenyo: 'ommu) is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the cities of San Francisco, California, San ...
.


Habitat and Ecology

Steelhead trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') are native to Smith Creek, although the construction of Calaveras Dam blocks in-migrating fish. Both Smith Creek and Arroyo Hondo were recorded in 1905 by
John Otterbein Snyder John Otterbein Snyder (August 14, 1867 – August 19, 1943) was an American ichthyologist and professor of zoology at Stanford University. History As a student he met David Starr Jordan who inspired him to enter zoology. He eventually became a zoo ...
as holding
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 thousa ...
Steelhead trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') streams. Impassable falls are present on upper Arroyo Hondo, but the rainbow trout in Smith and Isabel creeks are assumed to be native, as
California roach The California roach (previously ''Lavinia/Hesperoleucus symmetricus'') is a species of freshwater Actinopterygii, ray-finned fish belonging to the Family (biology), family Leuciscidae, which includes the daces, chubs, Phoxinus, Eurasian minnows ...
(''Hesperoleucus symmetricus'') and Sacramento sucker (''Catostomus occidentalis occidentalis'') are also present above and below the falls. Speckled dace (''Rhinichthys osculus'') were collected by
John Otterbein Snyder John Otterbein Snyder (August 14, 1867 – August 19, 1943) was an American ichthyologist and professor of zoology at Stanford University. History As a student he met David Starr Jordan who inspired him to enter zoology. He eventually became a zoo ...
in 1905 in Arroyo Hondo and Isabel creeks, but not by Scoppettone and Smith in 1978, having disappeared from most of their former sites in the central coast. The invasive, non-native
signal crayfish The signal crayfish (''Pacifastacus leniusculus'') is a species of crayfish indigenous to North America. Introduced to Europe in the 1960s to supplement the North European ''Astacus astacus'' fisheries, which were being damaged by crayfish plague ...
lives along the length of Smith Creek. Foothill yellow-legged frogs (''Rana boylei'') and California red-legged frogs (''Rana draytoni'') are present in Upper Alameda, Arroyo Hondo, Smith, and Isabel creeks. River otter (''Lontra canadensis'') are among the rare species observed at the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
Blue Oak Ranch Reserve (in June 1999), on the Smith Creek tributary of Arroyo Hondo. Purchase of the Nolan Ranch included 5 miles of Sulphur Creek and Smith Creek, from
San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. The Sharks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Con ...
hockey player
Owen Nolan Owen Liam Nolan (born 12 February 1972) is a Northern Irish-born Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He was drafted first overall by the Quebec Nordiques in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft. During his 18-year NHL career, he played for the ...
, adding 1,157 acres to the Joseph D. Grant County Park in 2012.


See also

*
Mount Hamilton (California) Mount Hamilton is a mountain in the Diablo Range in Santa Clara County, California, Santa Clara County, California. The mountain's peak, at , overlooks the heavily urbanized Santa Clara Valley and is the site of Lick Observatory, the world's fi ...
*
List of watercourses in the San Francisco Bay Area These watercourses (rivers, creeks, sloughs, etc.) in the San Francisco Bay Area are grouped according to the bodies of water they flow into. Tributaries are listed under the watercourses they feed, sorted by the elevation of the confluence so th ...
*
Rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributary, tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in North America and Asia. The steelhead (sometimes called steelhead trout) is an Fish migration#Classification, ...


References


External links

{{San Francisco Bay watershed Rivers of Santa Clara County, California Rivers of Northern California Tributaries of Alameda Creek Diablo Range