San Bruno Creek facts for kids
San Bruno Creek is a creek in San Mateo County, California, USA. It doesn't flow all the time, sometimes drying up. The creek starts high up in the eastern Santa Cruz Mountains. Its beginning parts wind through steep hills east of Skyline Boulevard. Over time, the lower parts of the creek have changed a lot. This happened because more and more people moved into the area and built cities. The land around San Bruno Creek was first settled by the Ohlone people. Later, this area became part of the land owned by Spanish missions.
A walking path follows San Bruno Creek. This path is an important part of the San Francisco Bay Trail. The Bay Trail needs this path because a large area along the bay is taken up by San Francisco International Airport. Because of the airport, the Bay Trail has to go two miles away from the bay to connect with the San Bruno Creek Trail.
History of San Bruno Creek
Long, long ago, the Buriburi tribe of the Ohlone people lived along San Bruno Creek. They might have lived there since about 2000 BC. One Buriburi village has been found along the creek. It may have had 15 to 25 people living in it.
Europeans first explored this area in 1769. A Spanish group led by Gaspar de Portolá came through. Later, Bruno Hecate explored more. He named San Bruno Creek after St. Bruno of Cologne. St. Bruno was the founder of a group of monks in the Middle Ages. The creek later gave its name to the nearby town.
When the Mission San Francisco de Asís was built, much of the land around the creek became pasture for the mission's animals to eat grass. After the missions became less important, the San Bruno Creek area became part of Rancho Buri Buri. This land was given to José de la Cruz Sánchez, who was the eleventh mayor of San Francisco. Later, many dairy farms were common in the area.
One of the first maps showing San Bruno Creek was made in 1893. It was drawn by Andrew Lawson, a geology professor. On this map, San Bruno Creek shared its starting point with another creek. This other creek flowed away from the bay into what is now called Crystal Springs Reservoir. Later, the city of San Francisco built the reservoir. Also, the city of San Bruno built up the lower parts of the creek. These changes greatly changed the creek's upper and lower sections.
Above where Interstate 280 and Interstate 380 meet, the creek flows through Crestmoor Canyon. It also goes through the Crestmoor neighborhood. This neighborhood was where a gas pipeline exploded and caught fire in 2010.
Upper Part of the Creek
The first 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of San Bruno Creek are the wildest and most natural. The creek winds through steep canyons with slopes of about 45 degrees. The rocks under this upper area are an old type called Pleistocene Colma Formation. This rock layer continues eastward under most of the San Francisco Bay Flood Plain.
Most of the water in the creek flows during the winter months, from November to March. This is the only time of year with a lot of rain in the Bay Area. The water underground in the middle to upper part of the creek is usually 70 to 150 feet (21 to 46 m) deep. This underground water generally flows eastward toward the Bay.
This wooded upper part of the creek has a mix of oak trees. The California live oak is a common tree here. Other large plants include the California Bay Laurel and the Toyon. The plants closer to the ground include many wildflowers. Some of these are evening primrose (Renothera ovata), wild radish (Raphanus satira), wild cucumber (Marah fabaceus), scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius), miners lettuce (Montia perfoliata), fillaree (Erodium cicutarium), vetch (Vicia americana), sweet clover (Melilotus indius), lupine (Lupinus sp.), and California poppy (Eschscholzia californica).
