Cerrito Creek facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Cerrito Creek |
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Cerrito Creek passing under Ohlone Greenway and BART tracks
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 Location of the mouth of Cerrito Creek in California
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| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| Region | Contra Costa County, Alameda County |
| Cities | Albany, El Cerrito, Berkeley, Kensington, Richmond |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Main source | Berkeley Hills above Arlington Avenue, Berkeley 500 ft (150 m) 37°54′7″N 122°16′34″W / 37.90194°N 122.27611°W |
| 2nd source | Berkeley Hills above Arlington Avenue, Kensington |
| River mouth | San Francisco Bay south of Pt. Isabel, north of Albany Hill Richmond 0 ft (0 m) 37°53′49″N 122°18′43″W / 37.89694°N 122.31194°W |
| Length | 2 mi (3.2 km) |
| Basin features | |
| Tributaries |
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Cerrito Creek is a small but important stream in northern California. It flows from the Berkeley Hills all the way to San Francisco Bay. This creek is special because it has been used as a boundary for a long time.
In the early 1800s, it separated two large ranches. Today, it helps mark the border between Alameda County and Contra Costa County. The main part of the creek flows through a deep canyon. Many smaller streams, called tributaries, join it. The biggest one is Middle or Blackberry Creek.
The creek gets its name from Albany Hill. This hill was once called Cerrito de San Antonio. "Cerrito" means "little hill" in Spanish. Albany Hill is a noticeable hill near the San Francisco Bay shoreline. The creek used to wind through a large marsh near this hill before reaching the Bay.
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Creek History: A Boundary and More
Cerrito Creek has played a bigger role in history than its size might suggest. Because it divided two large land grants, it became the official border between Alameda and Contra Costa counties.
In the early 1900s, Alameda County grew quickly. The area just north of the county line became a place where rules were a bit more relaxed. This changed after World War II when the city of El Cerrito made reforms.
The Marsh and the Garbage Story
The marsh at the creek's mouth also has an interesting story. People in the 1800s and 1900s thought wetlands were useless. So, they started filling the marsh. They even put a slaughterhouse and a dump there.
However, a typhoid scare in the early 1900s led to the dump being closed. This left Berkeley, which was growing fast after the San Francisco earthquake, without a place for its trash. A new dump was quickly set up south of Albany Hill.
Women living in that area were very upset. But they couldn't vote yet. One morning, they tried to stop the garbage wagons with guns! They eventually gave up when the sheriff arrived. But this event led the men in the area to vote to create the city of Ocean View. It was soon renamed Albany to avoid confusion with a part of Berkeley.
The marsh was eventually filled in. Rubble from dynamite making and quarrying on Albany Hill helped with this. The creek was put into a small channel. In 1969, the City of El Cerrito built flood basins in Creekside Park. This new park was part of a plan to improve the area that had grown up in the filled marsh.
Even today, tides still flow inland as far as Creekside Parks in Albany and El Cerrito. When a very high tide happens at the same time as heavy rain, the old marsh area can still flood.
Creek Restoration: Bringing Nature Back
For many years, parts of Cerrito Creek were hidden in pipes. In the 1990s, people tried to bring a section of the creek out of a pipe when a lumberyard became Albany Middle School. This effort led to the creation of a group called Friends of Five Creeks.
Since 1996, volunteers from this group have worked on Cerrito Creek and other local streams. They mainly remove plants that don't belong there (called invasives). They also plant native plants and add things like signs and benches for people to enjoy.
Future Plans for the Creek
The City of El Cerrito has a long-term plan to "daylight" parts of the creek that are still in pipes. "Daylighting" means bringing the creek back to the surface. This project is planned for the area near El Cerrito Plaza.
Both Albany and El Cerrito also plan to create a walking and biking path along the creek. This path will connect the Ohlone Greenway to the Bay Trail. This plan is slowly being put into action.
Friends of Five Creeks has worked on the creek near the Ohlone Greenway. They planted native plants and added a trash can. Between Talbot and Kains streets, near the El Cerrito Plaza shopping center, the creek was reshaped in 2003. This made the creek flow more naturally and added native plants. A creekside trail was also built. This project has been very successful.
Helping Fish and Wildlife
In 1998–99, a sewer replacement project changed the south bank of the creek. During this project, an organization helped break up an old sewer pipe. This allowed steelhead fish to reach Middle Creek again. These fish travel from the ocean to freshwater to lay eggs. While steelhead have been seen in the creek, there's no clear sign they are successfully reproducing there yet.
The City of Albany also planted native plants on the north bank. But when funding ran out, invasive plants like blackberry and Cape ivy quickly grew back.
Since 2000, Friends of Five Creeks has done a lot of work between San Pablo and Pierce streets. Their biggest job is removing thick, thorny blackberry bushes. These bushes can clog the creek and make flooding worse.
With help from both cities, volunteers have removed other invasive plants. They have also planted native plants and added benches and signs in the Creekside Parks. These parks are across from each other in Albany and El Cerrito.
The parkland extends to most of Albany Hill. It includes grasslands, a willow grove, and an old oak forest. This area is like a special island of urban green space and habitat surrounded by the city.
Many animals live here, including stickleback fish, Pacific chorus frogs, herons, egrets, kingfishers, ducks, hawks, raccoons, and deer.
Images for kids
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Cerrito Creek passing under Ohlone Greenway and BART tracks
