Salt Creek (Orange County)
| Salt Creek | |
| River | |
 Mouth of Salt Creek at Dana Point
|
|
| Name origin: "Arroyo Salado" (Salt Creek) | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | California |
| Counties | Orange County |
| Cities | Laguna Niguel, Dana Point, San Juan Capistrano |
| Source | |
| - location | Orange County, California |
| - coordinates | 33°31′23″N 117°41′25″W / 33.52306°N 117.69028°W |
| Mouth | Pacific Ocean |
| - location | Laguna Beach, California |
| - elevation | 0 ft (0 m) |
| - coordinates | 33°28′53″N 117°43′31″W / 33.48139°N 117.72528°WCoordinates: 33°28′53″N 117°43′31″W / 33.48139°N 117.72528°W |
| Length | 4 mi (6 km) |
| Basin | 6.1 sq mi (16 km2) |
| Discharge | for Pacific Ocean at Salt Creek County Beach |
| - average | 2.2 cu ft/s (0 m3/s) |
Salt Creek is a small coastal stream in southern Orange County in the U.S. state of California. The 4-mile (6.4 km) creek drains 6.1 square miles (16 km2) in parts of the cities of Laguna Niguel, Dana Point, and San Juan Capistrano. The mostly channelized creek has no named surface tributaries. The creek begins in the central portion of the city of Laguna Niguel and flows west and south through a narrow canyon referred to as the Salt Creek Corridor, which is mostly inside a long and narrow regional park. It then flows into the Monarch Beach Golf Course in the city of Dana Point and enters a subsurface storm channel ("Arroyo Salada Storm Channel") which carries it to its discharge point at Salt Creek County Beach.
Salt Creek's name originates from when Spanish explorers named the creek "Arroyo Salado" (Spanish: "Salt Creek"). The name given to the creek by the indigenous people has been lost.
Salt Creek begins in a series of small canyons west of the Street of the Golden Lantern, an arterial roadway that connects with Dana Point at the south end. The canyon the creek begins in is protected as part of the Salt Creek Corridor Regional Park, which covers most of the creek's course. The creek winds west through the narrow gorge, picking up runoff from numerous residential communities both north and south of the Salt Creek Canyon. Just before it crosses beneath Niguel Road, which also runs in a north-south direction, it receives runoff from a large storm drain on the right bank; this drains much of the small valley to the north of the Salt Creek Canyon.
Niguel Road crosses Salt Creek on an earthfill structure about 50 feet (15 m) high as Salt Creek is diverted beneath it in a concrete culvert. Turning southwest, the creek winds alongside Niguel Road, continuing to flow through a canyon that is not developed but is heavily modified to prevent erosion, especially on the northwest slopes. At this point, the Salt Creek Trail begins to parallel the creek, and continues to the mouth. Upstream of Camino del Avion, which runs east-west, it again enters a concrete pipe and is carried underneath the road to a small pond. Like Niguel Road, Camino del Avion crosses on an earthfill, not a bridge, except for a small section on the southwest which allows the Salt Creek Trail and floodwaters to pass underneath.
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Wikipedia