| Cerrito Creek | |
|---|---|
 Cerrito Creek passing under Ohlone Greenway and BART tracks | |
  Location of the mouth of Cerrito Creek in California | |
| Etymology | "cerrito", Spanish for little hill, referring to Albany Hill] |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| Region | Contra Costa County, Alameda County |
| Cities | Albany, El Cerrito, Berkeley, Kensington, Richmond |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Berkeley Hills |
| • location | above Arlington Avenue, Berkeley |
| • coordinates | 37°54′7″N 122°16′34″W / 37.90194°N 122.27611°W[1] |
| • elevation | 500 ft (150 m) |
| 2nd source | Berkeley Hills |
| • location | above Arlington Avenue, Kensington |
| Mouth | San Francisco Bay |
• location | south of Pt. Isabel, north of Albany Hill Richmond |
• coordinates | 37°53′49″N 122°18′43″W / 37.89694°N 122.31194°W[1] |
• elevation | 0 ft (0 m) |
| Length | 2 mi (3.2 km)[1] |
| Basin features | |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | North Fork Cerrito Creek (California), Unnamed creeks north of Fairmount Ave. (California) |
| • right | Middle/Blackberry |
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Cerrito Creek is one of the principal watercourses running out of the Berkeley Hills into San Francisco Bay in northern California. It is significant for its use as a boundary demarcation historically, as well as presently. In the early 19th century, it separated the vast Rancho San Antonio to the south from the Castro family's Rancho San Pablo to the north. Today, it marks part of the boundary between Alameda County and Contra Costa County. The main stem, running through a deep canyon that separates Berkeley from Kensington, is joined below San Pablo Avenue by a fan of tributaries, their lower reaches mostly in culverts. The largest of these is Middle or Blackberry Creek, a southern branch.
The creek is named for Albany Hill, formerly called Cerrito de San Antonio, a prominent (elevation 294 ft.) isolated hill on the shoreline of San Francisco Bay in Albany (The hill is now some distance inland due to Bay fill). Cerrito Creek, joined by a fan of other small creeks, formerly meandered to the Bay through a large marsh just north of the hill.