Wolf Creek (Nevada County, California)

Wolf Creek is a

The creek's watershed area is 78 miles (125.53 km), which consists almost entirely of the lower montane zone where the incidence of snowfall precipitation is comparatively low. The elevation range is between 3,000 feet (910 m) at the headwaters to about 1,200 feet (370 m) at its confluence with the Bear River. The river course from the source to its confluence is about 25 miles (40 km) and the flow is in the north-south direction, which is helpful in the development of productive and diverse ecosystems.[4] Wolf Creek, along with its tributaries, forms a major tributary of the Bear River. It is part of the upper region of the Bear River watershed. Bear River drains into the Feather River, which joins the Sacramento River, which finally debouches into San Francisco Bay.^[4]

The larger part of the Banner Mountain area in the southern part of its tract is drained by Wolf Creek. From Grass Valley, it runs south without larger tributaries. At Grass Valley, it forks into two creeks, which have a general east–west direction. The fall varies from 50 feet (15 m) to the mile in the Grass Valley basin to 130 feet (40 m) in the vicinity of the Omaha mine. The smaller tributaries to the creek flow with gentle grade over the undulating, plateau-like country, forming marshes at their sources, but on approaching the main stream they descend to it with a steep, torrential grade. East of Osborne Hill the drainage is toward Rattlesnake Creek, a tributary of Wolf Creek.^[3]

The watershed formed by Wolf Creek and the mountain range draining it exhibits moderate Mediterranean climate with marked variations between the seasons. The winters are wet and cold with temperature in the range of 36 °F (2 °C) to 55 °F (13 °C). The summers are dry and hot with temperature varying from 75 °F (24 °C) to 95 °F (35 °C). The annual precipitation reported is about 54 inches (1,400 mm). During winter, the snow precipitation on the mountain is heavy with several feet of snow.^[6]

History

The creek's watershed has had a fair amount of human habitation of indigenous people who have always depended, for their economic survival, on the biodiversity of the valley.

The faunal species reported from the watershed of the creek as reported in the California Natural Diversity Database are California spotted owl, California red-legged frog (threatened), coast horned lizard, elderberry beetle, foothill yellow-legged frog, great grey owl, northern goshawk, northwestern pond turtle and the Pacific fisher.^[4]

References

• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: W. Lindgren's "The Gold-quartz Veins of Nevada City and Grass Valley Districts, California" (1896)
• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: California State Mining Bureau's "Catalogue of the State Museum of California: Being the Collections Made by the State Mining Bureau" (1899)