Scott Creek (Santa Cruz County)

Scott Creek
Scotts Creek, Arroyo de Jairo, Arroyo de Jarro[1]
stream
Country United States
State California
Region Santa Cruz County
Tributaries
 - left Mill Creek (Santa Cruz County), Big Creek (Santa Cruz County), Little Creek (Santa Cruz County), Winter Creek, Archibald Creek
City Swanton
Source Big Basin Redwoods State Park
 - location Santa Cruz Mountains
 - elevation 1,736 ft (529 m)
 - coordinates 37°09′05″N 122°11′57″W / 37.15139°N 122.19917°W / 37.15139; -122.19917 [2]
Mouth Pacific Ocean
 - elevation 13 ft (4 m) [2]
 - coordinates 37°02′31″N 122°13′37″W / 37.04194°N 122.22694°W / 37.04194; -122.22694Coordinates: 37°02′31″N 122°13′37″W / 37.04194°N 122.22694°W / 37.04194; -122.22694 [2]

Scott Creek, also called Scotts Creek,[2] is a 12.2-mile-long (19.6 km)[3] stream and surfspot in Santa Cruz County, California. It is a few miles north of Davenport and a few miles south of Waddell Creek.

History

The first European land exploration of Alta California, the Spanish Portolà expedition, traveled along the coast on its way north, and again on the return. The party camped on the hill above the confluence of Scott Creek and Molino Creek - in sight of the beach - on October 19, 1769. On the return journey to San Diego, the party camped at the same location on November 20. Franciscan missionary Juan Crespi noted in his diary, "At the foot of the hill run two very copious streams, one to the right and the other to the left."[4]

Scott Creek is named for Hiram Scott, who in 1852 bought part of the Rancho Agua Puerca y las Trancas. Scott, for whom Scotts Valley is also named, bought Rancho San Agustin (now Scotts Valley) in the same year.

Watershed

Scott Creek is a small coastal California watershed draining approximately 75 square miles (190 km2).[5] It empties into the Pacific Ocean 80 kilometres (50 mi) south of San Francisco. Large waterfalls form impassable barriers on each of the main tributaries.

Ecology

Anadromous steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) can access approximately 14.3 miles (23.0 km) of stream between the estuary and natural upstream barriers of the main stem and the three main tributaries, Little, Big, and Mill creeks.[5] Fishes of Scott Creek include steelhead, coho salmon, threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), prickly sculpin (Cottus asper), Coastrange sculpin (Cottus aleuticus), and tidewater goby (Eucyclogobius newberryi). Juvenile starry flounder (Platichthys stellatus) and Pacific staghorn sculpin (Leptocottus armatus) are infrequently observed in the estuary.[6]

The Monterey Bay Salmon and Trout Project (MBSTP) operates a steelhead and coho salmon hatchery on the Big Creek tributary to Scotts Creek. The hatchery uses spawning wild steelhead trout to obtain eggs and milt so that the genetics of the hatchery fish are wild. The hatchery site was historically known as Kingfisher Flats.[7]

Recreation

On big north swells that occur during the winter, a large bowly right is enjoyed by many surfers. The spot has similarities to Swami's surfspot in San Diego County. The beach is also frequented by nudists.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Donald Thomas Clark (1986). Santa Cruz County Place Names. Santa Cruz, California: Santa Cruz Historical Society. p. 331.
  2. 1 2 3 4 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Scott Creek
  3. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed February, 2012
  4. ↑ Bolton, Herbert E. (1927). Fray Juan Crespi: Missionary Explorer on the Pacific Coast, 1769-1774. HathiTrust Digital Library. pp. 216–217. Retrieved April 2014. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  5. 1 2 Sean A. Hayes, Morgan H. Bond, Chad V. Hanson, Ellen V. Freund, Jerry J. Smith, Eric C. Anderson, Arnold J. Ammann, R. Bruce MacFarlane (2008). "Steelhead Growth in a Small Central California Watershed: Upstream and Estuarine Rearing Patterns" (PDF). Transactions of the American Fisheries Society. 137: 114–128. doi:10.1577/t07-043.1. Retrieved 2012-02-17.
  6. ↑ Morgan H. Bond, Sean A. Hayes, Chad V. Hanson, and R. Bruce MacFarlane (2008). "Marine survival of steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) enhanced by a seasonally closed estuary" (PDF). Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. Retrieved 2012-02-17.
  7. ↑ "Hatchery". Monterey Bay Salmon and Trout Project (MBSTP). Retrieved 2015-06-07.
  8. ↑ "Scotts Creek Beach". Retrieved 2008-06-23.
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