| Alamitos Creek | |
| stream | |
| Name origin: Spanish language | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | California |
| Region | Santa Clara County |
| City | San Jose, California |
| Source | Almaden Reservoir |
| - location | 10 mi (16 km) west of Morgan Hill, California |
| - coordinates | [1] |
| Mouth | Guadalupe River |
| - location | San Jose, California |
| - elevation | 194 ft (59 m) |
| - coordinates | [1] |
Los Alamitos Creek or Alamitos Creek[1] is a 7.7-mile-long (12.4 km)[2] creek in San Jose, California, which becomes the Guadalupe River at its confluence with Guadalupe Creek at Lake Almaden Park. It is located in Almaden Valley and originates from the Los Capitancillos Ridge and the Santa Cruz Mountains. This creek flows through the Valley's Guadalupe Watershed, which is owned by the Santa Clara Valley Water District. The creek flows in a generally northwesterly direction after rounding the Los Capitancillos Ridge and the town of New Almaden, in the southwest corner, before ambling along the Santa Teresa Hills on northeast side of the Almaden Valley. Its environment has some relatively undisturbed areas and considerable lengths of suburban residential character. Originally called Arroyo de los Alamitos, the creek's name is derived from "little poplar", "alamo" being the Spanish word for "poplar" or "cottonwood".[3]
Contents |
The Alamitos Creek banks were inhabited by Native American tribes thousands of years ago and up until the time of Spanish exploration. Evidence of middens and traces of that hunter-gatherer civilisation has been recorded from archeological excavations and surface finds. From the mid-19th century until the 1970s, operation of the New Almaden Quicksilver Mines discharged high levels of mercury into the creek near its headwaters and the remaining piles of exposed mine tailings still contaminate the creek beyond natural levels. Warning signs to not eat fish caught in the Alamitos Creek still run the length of its course.[4] In the 1940s and 1950s, rapid residential development expanded into this portion of the Almaden Valley including building which encroached into the 100-year floodplain. The Santa Clara Valley Water District began studying this watershed with emphasis upon flood control functions, and made some minor streambed alterations such as energy dissipators. In 1976 the District developed a comprehensive flood control plan and retained Earth Metrics Inc. to prepare an independent Environmental Impact Report.[5] The resulting study developed the first comprehensive data base of biology, water quality, geology and cultural resources information for Alamitos Creek. In 1989 the city of San Jose undertook an analysis to create a creekside trail from Almaden Quicksilver County Park to a location along Alamitos Creek about .6 mile below the confluence with Calero Creek.[6]
In the downstream rocky streambed reaches of the creek there are a variety of birds commonly observed including mallard, Black Phoebe, Common Merganser, Red-shouldered Hawk, Snowy Egret, Belted Kingfisher, Great Blue Heron and Black-crowned Night-Heron.[7] There are a few mammals on the lower reaches such as raccoon. Vegetation includes upland tree species such as coast live oak and California bay laurel; understory growth such as coyote brush, toyon and poison oak; and riparian vegatation such as red willow and wild blackberry.
In the extreme downstream reaches Rufous-crowned Sparrow, California Thrasher and American Kestrel can be observed on chaparral slopes. In the oak woodlands along the creek, Acorn Woodpecker, California Quail, Anna's Hummingbird, Scrub Jay, Oak Titmouse, Bushtit, Bewick's Wren, and Spotted Towhee can be found.
The Los Alamitos Creek Trail or Alamitos Creek Trail is a paved, 4.7 mile long pedestrian and bicycle trail that runs along Los Alamitos Creek, from Harry Road (south) to Lake Almaden Park (north). As the trail crosses beneath the Coleman Road bridge, it meets the confluence of Guadalupe Creek and becomes the Guadalupe River Trail. A paved trail system which continues along the Guadalupe River extending northward to Chynoweth Avenue. As an alternative to walking under a narrow crawl corridor below the Almaden Expressway bridge, hikers can continue by using sidewalks and the signalized intersection of Coleman Road/Almaden Expressway, trail users can follow the Guadalulpe Creek Trail westward to Meridian Avenue (unpaved, interim gravel surface).[8]
|
|||||||||||||||||||