| Mariposa Creek | |
| Name Other: | Mariposa River |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | United States |
| Subdivision Type2: | State |
| Subdivision Name2: | California |
| Subdivision Type3: | Region |
| Subdivision Name3: | Merced County |
| Subdivision Type5: | Cities |
| Subdivision Name5: | Mariposa, Le Grand |
| Source1 Location: | Western Sierra Nevada foothills |
| Source1 Coordinates: | 37.5361°N -120.0111°W |
| Source1 Elevation: | 3092feet |
| Mouth Location: | Duck Slough |
| Mouth Coordinates: | 37.2486°N -120.3094°W |
| Mouth Elevation: | 0feet |
| Tributaries Left: | Stockton Creek, Spring Creek, Brushy Canyon Creek, Ganns Creek |
| Tributaries Right: | Agua Fria Creek, China Gulch, Bull Run Creek |
Mariposa Creek, originally called the Mariposa River,[1] is a creek that has its source in Mariposa County, California. It flows through the town of Mariposa then southwest through the Sierra foothills, into and across the San Joaquin Valley in Merced County, and empties the sloughs of the San Joaquin River south of the city of Merced.
Mariposa Creek was named by the Spanish explorer Gabriel Moraga on September 27, 1806, when his expedition discovered a great cluster of butterflies ("mariposas" in Spanish and Portuguese):
"We named this place Mariposas [butterflies] because these abounded, especially at night and during the morning. These butterflies became quite a nuisance. Their eagerness to escape the sun's rays was so pronounced that they pursued us closely everywhere and one of them got inside the ear of one of the privates, causing him great discomfort and us much trouble in extracting it."[2] [3]
Each year on the first weekend in May, Mariposa residents mark the annual arrival of migrating monarch butterflies with a "Butterfly Days" festival and parade.
During the California Gold Rush, the Mariposa River was a rich gold-bearing creek and the site of several mining camps, including Logtown, Mariposa and Mariposita.
Mariposa County contains three major drainage basins: the Merced River, Chowchilla River/Fresno River, and a localized cluster of streams of the east valley known as the Lower Mariposa group of streams. These three basins and their component watersheds are part of the much larger San Joaquin River system that drains the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada. At the lower end of the watershed, Mariposa Creek is dammed by the Mariposa Creek Dam (88feet high). The Mariposa Public Utilities District (MPUD) operates the Stockton Creek Dam (95feet tall) on Stockton Creek, a tributary of Mariposa Creek.[4]
Mariposa County maintains a park along the creek in downtown Mariposa. It features an Art Park with an amphitheatre, and a demonstration garden of California native plants sponsored by the local chapter of the Master Gardeners.