Matadero Creek

Matadero Creek
Arroyo del Matadero,[1] Crosby's Creek, Madera Creek[2][3][4]
Beaver recently recolonized Matadero Creek in the Palo Alto Baylands. Courtesy Bill Leikam September 2022
Map
Location
CountryUnited States
StateCalifornia
RegionSanta Clara County
Physical characteristics
SourceFoothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains
 • locationLos Altos Hills, California
 • coordinates37°22′01″N 122°09′04″W / 37.36694°N 122.15111°W / 37.36694; -122.15111[5]
 • elevation640 ft (200 m)
MouthPalo Alto Flood Basin, then Mayfield Slough, then southwest San Francisco Bay
 • location
Palo Alto, California
 • coordinates
37°25′27″N 122°08′01″W / 37.42417°N 122.13361°W / 37.42417; -122.13361[5]
 • elevation
0 ft (0 m)[5]
Basin features
Tributaries 
 • leftArastradero Creek, Santa Rita Creek via the "Stanford Channel"
 • rightDeer Creek

Matadero Creek is a stream originating in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The creek flows in a northeasterly direction for 8 miles (13 km) until it enters the Palo Alto Flood Basin, where it joins Adobe Creek in the Palo Alto Baylands at the north end of the Mayfield Slough, just before its culmination in southwest San Francisco Bay. Matadero Creek begins in the city of Los Altos Hills, then traverses the Stanford University lands and Palo Alto.

  1. ^ Durham, David L. (1998). Durham's Place Names of California's San Francisco Bay Area: Includes Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Contra Costa, Alameda, Solano & Santa Clara counties. Word Dancer Press, Sanger, California. p. 103. ISBN 1-884995-14-4. Retrieved January 19, 2010.
  2. ^ "Palo Alto Creeks Topo, 1899". Oakland Museum. Retrieved November 7, 2010.
  3. ^ William S. Cooper (January 1926). "Vegetational Development Upon Alluvial Fans in the Vicinity of Palo Alto, California". Ecology. 7 (1): 1–30. doi:10.2307/1929116. JSTOR 1929116.
  4. ^ Gudde, Erwin G. (1949). California Place Names: A Geographical Dictionary. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. p. 224. ISBN 978-0-520-24217-3. Retrieved January 19, 2010.
  5. ^ a b c U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Matadero Creek