| Carneros Creek | |
| Pushpin Map: | USA California |
| Pushpin Map Size: | 300 |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of the mouth of Carneros Creek in California |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | United States |
| Subdivision Type2: | State |
| Subdivision Name2: | California |
| Subdivision Type3: | Region |
| Subdivision Name3: | Napa County, California |
| Subdivision Type5: | City |
| Subdivision Name5: | Napa |
| Source1: | Mayacamas Mountains |
| Source1 Coordinates: | 38.0328°N -122.4117°W |
| Source1 Elevation: | 1500feet[1] |
| Mouth: | Napa River |
| Mouth Coordinates: | 38.2214°N -122.3119°W |
| Mouth Elevation: | 3feet |
| Basin Size: | 170sqmi |
Carneros Creek (Spanish; Castilian: Arroyo de los Carneros) is a south by southeastward flowing stream originating in the southernmost Mayacamas Mountains, in Napa County, California. It is the southernmost tributary to the Napa River, entering 2.5miles north of San Pablo Bay and 5miles south of the town of Napa.[2]
A Mexican land grant named Los Carneros, which is Spanish for "sheep", dates to 1836 (Rancho Rincon de los Carneros) in what is now Napa County.[3] Rancho Rincon de los Carneros, extending northeast from Carneros Creek to the Napa River, was granted to Nicolas Higuera around this time. Higuera also received Rancho Entre Napa, contiguous to the north along the creek. Carneros Creek forms the northeast border of the 1841 Mexican land grant Rancho Huichica which includes most of the Carneros region and Huichica Creek which is west of and parallel to Carneros Creek. Rancho Huichica was granted to Jacob P. Leese the first American pioneer to build a house in San Francisco. In the next year, Antonio Ortega, the Administrator of Mission San Francisco Solano, was granted a large rancho from Napa to Yountville. This area, which extended to Carneros Creek, above Higuera's grant, was later granted to Salvador Vallejo.[4]
The Carneros Creek official mainstem is 9.8miles long.[1] This third order stream has a rectangular drainage basin area of 8.9sqmi. The highest elevation in the watershed is 1660feet above mean sea level, dropping to sea level at its confluence with the Napa River. The lowest 1640feet of the creek is confined within flood levees.[5]
Carneros Creek is an anadromous steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) stream. Because these trout spend two years in freshwater before returning to the sea, only the perennial middle reach of the creek hosts trout year-round (between Old Sonoma Road and extending upstream about 4.2miles where the channel goes dry in summer and fall).[6]