San Francisquito Creek
| San Francisquito Creek Arroyo de San Francisquito | |
|---|---|
El Palo Alto and the San Francisquito Creek c. 1910 | |
San Francisquito Creek watershed with named tributaries | |
| Etymology | Spanish language |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| Region | Northwestern Santa Clara County and southeastern San Mateo County |
| City | Palo Alto, California |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Confluence of Bear Creek and Corte Madera Creek just below Searsville Lake (actually a reservoir) |
| • location | Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve |
| • coordinates | 37°24′26″N 122°14′15″W / 37.40722°N 122.23750°W |
| • elevation | 351 ft (107 m) |
| Mouth | Southwest San Francisco Bay |
• location | East Palo Alto, California |
• coordinates | 37°27′58″N 122°06′55″W / 37.46611°N 122.11528°W |
• elevation | 0 ft (0 m) |
| Basin features | |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | Bear Creek |
| • right | Corte Madera Creek, Los Trancos Creek |
San Francisquito Creek (Spanish for "Little San Francisco"—the "little" referring to size of the settlement compared to Mission San Francisco de Asís) is a creek that flows into southwest San Francisco Bay in California, United States. Historically it was called the Arroyo de San Francisco by Juan Bautista de Anza in 1776. San Francisquito Creek courses through the towns of Portola Valley and Woodside, as well as the cities of Menlo Park, Palo Alto, and East Palo Alto. The creek and its Los Trancos Creek tributary define the boundary between San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.