Aptos Creek
Aptos Creek is a southward flowing creek that begins on Santa Rosalia Mountain on the southwestern slope of the Santa Cruz Mountains in Santa Cruz County, California and enters Monterey Bay, at Seacliff State Beach in Aptos, California.History
The earliest record of "Outos" or "Aptos" is Arroyo de Outos in 1796, thought to be pronunciations of an Ohlone village at the junction of Aptos and Valencia Creeks. Rancho de Aptos was a sheep ranch of Mission Santa Cruz shown on documents dating to July 5, 1807. Rancho Aptos was a Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Cruz County, California given in 1833 by Governor José Figueroa to Rafael Castro.Watershed and Course
The Aptos Creek watershed drains beginning on the southwestern slope of tall Santa Rosalia Mountain in the western Santa Cruz Mountains. Over 60% of the watershed of the Aptos Creek mainstem lies within and is protected by The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park. The major tributaries are Bridge Creek, Mangels Gulch and then Valencia Creek.Ecology
The middle and upper watershed is in a second growth redwood forest that was clearcut over a forty-year period from 1883 to 1923. Coho salmon and steelhead trout in Central Coast streams are federally listed as endangered and threatened species, respectively.
