Clear Creek | |
Subdivision Type1: | Country |
Subdivision Name1: | United States |
Subdivision Type2: | State |
Subdivision Name2: | California |
Subdivision Type3: | Region |
Subdivision Name3: | Shasta Trinity |
Length: | 60.6miles |
Discharge1 Location: | French Gulch, above Whiskeytown Lake[1] |
Discharge1 Min: | 2.07cuft/s |
Discharge1 Avg: | 211cuft/s |
Discharge1 Max: | 14600cuft/s |
Source1: | Damnation Peak |
Source1 Location: | Trinity Mountains, Shasta-Trinity National Forest |
Source1 Coordinates: | 40.9586°N -122.5292°W |
Source1 Elevation: | 5080feet |
Mouth: | Sacramento River |
Mouth Location: | Girvan |
Mouth Coordinates: | 40.5056°N -122.3678°W |
Mouth Elevation: | 415feet |
Basin Size: | 249sqmi[2] |
Tributaries Right: | Crystal Creek, Brandy Creek |
Clear Creek (Ínaam in Karuk) is a tributary of the upper Sacramento River in northern California.[3]
The creek is long,[4] flowing in southern Siskiyou County and northern Shasta County. Clear Creek is the first major Sacramento River tributary downstream of the Shasta Dam.[5]
Clear Creek originates in the Trinity Mountains, between Shasta Lake and Trinity Lake in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, and flows into Whiskeytown Lake reservoir, impounded by Whiskeytown Dam. Past the reservoir, the stream bed continues south until its confluence with the Sacramento River. The Spring Creek Tunnel bypasses that section and delivers water from Whiskeytown Lake directly to Keswick Reservoir, both part of the Central Valley Project.[3] [6]
See main article: Reading's Bar. The site along Clear Creek where Pierson B. Reading discovered gold in 1848 was declared a California Historical Landmark No 78, on December 6, 1932, at 40.5922°N -122.4777°W. Reading's Bar in Clear Creek is also a California Historical Landmark, No. 32.[7]