Cerrito Creek

Cerrito Creek
Cerrito Creek passing under Ohlone Greenway and BART tracks
Cerrito Creek is located in California
Cerrito Creek
Location of the mouth of Cerrito Creek in California
Etymology"cerrito", Spanish for little hill, referring to Albany Hill]
Location
CountryUnited States
StateCalifornia
RegionContra Costa County, Alameda County
CitiesAlbany, El Cerrito, Berkeley, Kensington, Richmond
Physical characteristics
SourceBerkeley Hills
 • locationabove Arlington Avenue, Berkeley
 • coordinates37°54′7″N 122°16′34″W / 37.90194°N 122.27611°W / 37.90194; -122.27611[1]
 • elevation500 ft (150 m)
2nd sourceBerkeley Hills
 • locationabove Arlington Avenue, Kensington
MouthSan 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 / 37.89694; -122.31194[1]
 • elevation
0 ft (0 m)
Length2 mi (3.2 km)[1]
Basin features
Tributaries 
 • leftNorth Fork Cerrito Creek (California), Unnamed creeks north of Fairmount Ave. (California)
 • rightMiddle/Blackberry
Ohlone Greenway
Bay Area Rapid Transit
El Cerrito Plaza
Creekside Park
Albany Hill
San Francisco Bay Trail

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.