Deer Creek (Santa Clara County, California)

Deer Creek
Purisima Creek on some maps[1]
Deer Creek at La Barranca Road, Los Altos Hills
Location
CountryUnited States
StateCalifornia
RegionSanta Clara County
Physical characteristics
SourceFoothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains
 • locationLos Altos Hills, California
 • coordinates37°21′46″N 122°08′59″W / 37.36278°N 122.14972°W / 37.36278; -122.14972[1]
 • elevation128 ft (39 m)
MouthMatadero Creek
 • location
Palo Alto, California
 • coordinates
37°24′16″N 122°09′08″W / 37.40444°N 122.15222°W / 37.40444; -122.15222[1]
 • elevation
0 ft (0 m)[1]

Deer Creek is a small stream, a right tributary of Matadero Creek, originating in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains in Santa Clara County, California, United States. From its source in Los Altos Hills, the creek flows in a northerly direction for 2.5 miles (4 km)to join Matadero Creek in Palo Alto.

Deer Creek begins at elevation 680 feet just north of Altamount Road and west of Taafe Road in Los Altos Hills, then flows northerly passing under Interstate 280 at the La Barranca Road underpass, where it turns west and parallels Purissima Road, crosses Arastradero Road and Deer Creek Road, before joining the Matadero Creek mainstem just south of Foothill Expressway and east of Page Mill Road.[2] Deer Creek has also been labelled as Purisima Creek on some maps.[3]

Deer Creek bridge crossing on the main stem (according to where GNIS shows the source)
Deer Creek approaching its confluence with Matadero Creek near Foothill Expressway in Palo Alto
Deer Creek just east of Arastradero Road runs in a concrete trapezoidal channel along I280
A bridge across a branch of Deer Creek near its source in Los Altos Hills. Here the pathway down from Taafe Road, which crosses the other branch behind here, crosses to the Broken House Path.
  1. ^ a b c d U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Deer Creek
  2. ^ Douglas Graham. "The Creeks of Barron Park – Part One in the Barron Park Association Newsletter" (PDF). Barron Park Association Newsletter. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-04-25. Retrieved 2011-11-13.
  3. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Deer Creek – The 1961–1969 USGS topo maps label Deer Creek as Purisima Creek, but the 1976 map corrects this; the next creek to the southeast is Purisima Creek, a tributary of Adobe Creek.