Freshwater Creek

The creek basin is roughly , with of that above Freshwater Corners and above Freshwater town. The creek is at approximately sea level at its mouth and above at its headwaters. The highest that the creek basin as a whole rises above sea level is in the south east. At the mouth the rough annual rainfall is and at the headwaters it is . Most of the rainfall, between 35% and 40%, occurs in December and January. Snowfall is rare. The mean temperature of the creek water ranges from in summer to in winter. Prevailing winds are from the Pacific Ocean. In the tidal lower reach, the Slough, the creek is surrounded mainly by ranchland and residential properties. The creek gradient is low (), with levees along most of the channel; the riparian forest thin; and the water brackish. In the upper non-tidal reaches the riparian forest thickens with vegetation, conifers, and hardwood trees. The gradient is much steeper at . Most of the main river course is sparsely populated, with most of the watershed of the upper reaches being timberland that is owned and managed by the Pacific Lumber Company. Most of the residential properties, including those of Freshwater, are along the banks of the main creek. Logging activity has caused heavy erosion of the watershed, and Eureka Slough, via the Freshwater Slough, receives silt from the basin. == Tributaries and other locations ==

The general course of the creek is west-south-west for and then north-west for the rest of its roughly total length. • Its major tributaries are: • McReady Gulch, mouth at headwaters at • Cloney Gulch, mouth at headwaters at • Graham Gulch, mouth at headwaters at • South Fork Freshwater Creek, mouth at • Little Freshwater Creek, mouth at The eponymous town of Freshwater is located along the main creek. The land, railroad, and logging mill on the Creek were owned by the Excelsior Redwood Company until being bought at the turn of the 20th century by H. C. Smith of Minnesota, whose company after corporate reorganization was to become the Pacitic Lumber Company. The railway had originally been the Humboldt Logging Railway built by the South Bay RR & Land Company in the 1880s when it had logged out Salmon Creek. The Creek is bridged by Myrtle Avenue, Howard Heights road, Steele Lane, the Freshwater Park Bridge, and on a private road. == See also ==