Los Gatos Creek (Santa Clara County)
| Los Gatos Creek Arroyo de Los Gatos, Jones Creek | |
|---|---|
Chinook salmon leaping passage barrier on Los Gatos Creek in December 2018 | |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| Region | Santa Clara County |
| Cities | Los Gatos, Campbell, San Jose, Holy City, Chemeketa Park |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Loma Prieta Mountain in the Santa Cruz Mountains |
| • coordinates | 37°06′36″N 121°50′48″W / 37.11000°N 121.84667°W |
| • elevation | 3,250 ft (990 m) |
| Mouth | Guadalupe River |
• location | San Jose, California |
• coordinates | 37°00′02″N 121°53′57″W / 37.00056°N 121.89917°W |
• elevation | 69 ft (21 m) |
| Basin features | |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | Moody Gulch, Aldercroft Creek, Briggs Creek, Black Creek, Lyndon Canyon Creek, Trout Creek |
| • right | Austrian Gulch, Hooker Gulch Creek, Hendrys Creek, Soda Springs Creek, Limekiln Canyon Creek, Dry Creek |
The Los Gatos Creek runs 24 miles (39 km) in California through Santa Clara Valley Water District's Guadalupe Watershed from the Santa Cruz Mountains northward through the Santa Clara Valley until its confluence with the Guadalupe River in downtown San Jose. The Guadalupe River then continues onward into San Francisco Bay.
The creek begins in the Santa Cruz mountains near the Santa Clara/Santa Cruz County border, just south of the peak Loma Prieta. It then flows northwesterly to Lake Elsman, a reservoir owned by the San Jose Water Company, then on to Holy City and Chemeketa Park, then northward into the Lexington Reservoir. The creek then flows through the Los Gatos Canyon and through the town of Los Gatos and Vasona Reservoir, then northeasterly through Campbell and San Jose where it meets the Guadalupe River.