Redwood Creek (Marin County)
Redwood Creek | |
---|---|
Location | |
Country | United States |
State | California |
Region | Marin County |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | Mount Tamalpais confluence of Bootjack, Rattlesnake and Spike Buck Creeks |
• coordinates | 37°54′14″N 122°35′22″W / 37.90389°N 122.58944°W[1] |
Mouth | Pacific Ocean |
• location | Muir Beach, California |
• coordinates | 37°51′35″N 122°34′40″W / 37.85972°N 122.57778°W[1] |
• elevation | 0 ft (0 m) |
Length | 4.7 mi (7.6 km) |
Basin size | 7 sq mi (18 km2) |
Basin features | |
Tributaries | |
• left | Fern Creek, Green Gulch Creek |
• right | Kent Creek |
Redwood Creek is a mostly perennial stream in Marin County, California. 4.7 miles (7.6 km) long,[2] it drains a 7-square-mile (18 km2) watershed which includes the Muir Woods National Monument, and reaches the Pacific Ocean north of the Golden Gate at Muir Beach.
History
At the time of European discovery, the watershed was inhabited by the Coast Miwok, of which the local Huimen tribe was one of fifteen independent Miwok tribes in Marin and southern Sonoma counties. The indigenous archeological site named CA-MRN-33 on the edge of Big Lagoon is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Muir Beach Historical Site.
Habitat and wildlife
Redwood Creek provides a critical spawning and rearing habitat for
In fall of 2003, the NPS completed the first phase of the Banducci Site restoration project, about 1 km upstream from the creek's mouth at Muir Beach. Artificial log jams were constructed using downed Eucalyptus trees and breaching the constraining levees to reconnect the channel and floodplain. The primary purpose of the instream project was to create rearing pools for juvenile salmonids. NPS also removed invasive, non-native vegetation in the riparian corridor, and replaced it with native vegetation to enhance nesting habitat for resident and migrant riparian songbirds. The current phase of the Redwood Creek Restoration Project, begun in 2009, is an attempt to restore the 46-acre creek floodplain. It includes creation of a new 650 foot meandering channel with three side-channels, in an attempt to restore the historic Big Lagoon, which according to 1850 maps, extended all the way back to the present Pelican Inn. Once the planted native vegetation takes hold on the new stream banks, the current parking lot will be rotated 90 degrees and the new channel connected.[8]
Other rare species living in the watershed include the northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) and the California red-legged frog (Rana aurora draytonii). In late 2009 the NPS excavated a pond in a pasture at Green Gulch Farm to provide habitat for the dwindling California red-legged frog population, the only one in the watershed.[14]
River otter (Lontra canadensis) were spotted in Redwood Creek in 1996, and return every year to eat steelhead trout.[8][15] River otter were not listed as native to Marin County in Grinnell's 1937 Fur-bearing Mammals of California.[16]
Watershed
Redwood Creek is formed by the confluence Rattlesnake Creek and Spike Buck Creeks at elevation 341 feet (104 m)
Bridges
Redwood Creek is spanned by several bridges:[19]
- at Muir Woods Road 0.7 miles (1.1 km) north of State Route 1, a concrete continuous slab built in 1958
- at milepost 6.02 on State Route 1, a concrete culvert built in 1926 and reconstructed in 1970
- at Pacific Way, 0.09 miles (140 m) south of State Route 1, concrete span built in 1956
- at Muir Woods Road 2.0 miles (3.2 km) north of State Route 1, a concrete tee beambuilt in 1946
See also
References
- ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Redwood Creek
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed March 9, 2011
- ^ National Park Service Golden Gate National Recreation Area (2002). Environmental Assessment Lower Redwood Creek Interim Flood Reduction Measures and Floodplain/Channel Restoration (PDF) (Report).
- ^ "Redwood Creek: Prompted recovery of straightened channel with engineered log jams" (PDF). National River Restoration Science Synthesis (NRRSS). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-05-14. Retrieved Jan 6, 2010.
- ^ "Central California Coast Coho Salmon". April 26, 2022. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
- ^ Carlisle, S.; M. Reichmuth; E. Brown; S. C. Del Real (2008). Long-term coho salmon and steelhead trout monitoring in coastal Marin County 2007: annual monitoring progress report. Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/SFAN/NRTR—2009/269 (PDF) (Report). Fort Collins, Colorado: National Park Service. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-05-27. Retrieved Jan 5, 2010.
- ^ Michelle O'Herron (August 2009). "Coho Salmon Monitoring in Redwood Creek, Inventory and Monitoring Program Research Project Summary" (PDF). National Park Service. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-05-28. Retrieved Jan 5, 2009.
- ^ a b c Peter Fimrite (2010-11-12). "Marin creek being restored to bring back coho". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
- ^ 2010-2011 Coho and Steelhead Spawner Survey Summary (Report). National Park Service. Retrieved 2011-05-15.
- ^ Mark Prado (Jan 2, 2010). "Marin's coho salmon on the brink of extinction". Marin Independent Journal. Retrieved Jan 12, 2010.
- ^ Donna Whitmarsh (Jan 2010). "California Coho Salmon In Dire Straits, New Report Predicts Collapse". Bay Nature. Retrieved Jan 12, 2010.
- ^ "Muir Woods coho salmon vanish, fanning fears of extinction", San Francisco Chronicle, November 29, 2014
- ^ Mark Prado (Jan 10, 2016). "Marin coho returned to Muir Woods creek after protective hiatus at hatchery". Marin Independent Journal. Retrieved 2016-01-17.
- ^ Aleta George (Jan–Mar 2010). "Restoring Two Creeks for Coho". Bay Nature. Retrieved Jan 7, 2010.
- ^ "Get Outside!". San Francisco Chronicle. April 2006. Retrieved 2011-03-05.
- ^ Joseph Grinnell; Joseph S. Dixon; Jean M. Linsdale (1937). Fur-bearing mammals of California; their natural history, systematic status, and relations to man. Berkeley, California: University of.
- ^ "Spike Buck Creek". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
- ^ "Rattlesnake Creek". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
- ^ "National Bridge Inventory Database". Retrieved 2008-01-17.