Cedar Creek (Pacheco Creek)

Cedar Creek is a 6.25 mi south flowing stream which heads on the eastern flank of Burra Burra Peak in the Diablo Range, and is a tributary to Pacheco Creek, in Santa Clara County, California.

History
Cedar Creek is likely named for California juniper (Juniperus californica), a small tree similar to Eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) that is native to California, southern Nevada, and western Arizona.

Watershed
The Cedar Creek mainstem begins at 1730 ft on the eastern flank of Burra Burra Peak, located about 0.4 mi south of the Dowdy Ranch Visitor's Center of Henry Coe State Park. It flows south for 2.0 mi where it is joined on the right by its 5.5 mi long Cañada de la Dormida tributary. (Cañada de la Dormida is Spanish for "valley of the sleeping woman".) From there it continues south where it is joined on the right by an unnamed tributary in Hageman Canyon, and from there continues south into Hurricane Canyon, after which it ends at its confluence with Pacheco Creek. This confluence is 0.67 mi west of the Kaiser-Aetna Road exit at Bell Station on Pacheco Pass Highway (California State Route 152) and 6.5 mi west of Pacheco Pass.

Ecology
Professor Jerry Smith of San Jose State University reported that although Cedar Creek is generally intermittent in summer, it was used by steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) at least through the 1970's.

The Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency has identified the Cedar Creek undercrossing below Pacheco Pass Highway (California State Route 152) as a wildlife linkage enabling smaller animals to safely cross beneath this high-speed road at the border of Santa Clara County and San Benito County. A 2020 report by Pathways for Wildlife established significant wildlife usage of this 177 ft long by 164 ft wide bridge over Cedar Creek, and suggested modifications to improve it.