McWay Creek

McWay Creek
McWay Canyon
River
Country United States
State California
Region Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park
Tributaries
 - left Middle Fork McWay Creek, South Fork McWay Creek
 - right North Fork McWay Creek
Source
 - location Coast Range, Partington Ridge, California
 - elevation 3,000 ft (914 m)
 - coordinates 36°11′13″N 121°39′15″W / 36.18694°N 121.65417°W / 36.18694; -121.65417 [1]
Mouth Pacific Ocean
 - location Waterfall Cove, California
 - elevation 100 ft (30 m)
 - coordinates 36°09′30″N 121°40′19″W / 36.15833°N 121.67194°W / 36.15833; -121.67194Coordinates: 36°09′30″N 121°40′19″W / 36.15833°N 121.67194°W / 36.15833; -121.67194 [1]

McWay Creek is a 2.5-mile-long (4.0 km)[2] coastal stream in Monterey County in the U.S. state of California. It flows steeply west and south from McWay Canyon, high in California's Central Coast Range, and spills into the Pacific Ocean at Waterfall Cove after flowing over scenic McWay Falls. Most of the creek and its watershed are contained within Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, 12 miles south of Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. The creek is named after Christopher McWay, a pioneer from the state of New York. The "Waterfall House" originally existed at the mouth of the creek overlooking the falls, and a hydroelectric plant operated by a Pelton wheel was powered by McWay Creek.[3] The creek and its canyon are rich in vegetation types, due to the humid coastal climate with frequent fog and rainfall.

Geography

McWay Falls is the most well-known of the three prominent waterfalls in the McWay Creek watershed.

McWay Creek is formed by the confluence of its North and Middle Forks, at an elevation of roughly 1,270 feet (390 m).[4] The North Fork is the longer of the two streams, beginning at an elevation of 3,450 feet (1,050 m),[5] and running in a straight course southward to where it joins the Middle Fork. The smaller Middle Fork begins at an elevation of 3,182 feet (970 m)[5] and flows south-southwest to meet the North Fork and form the mainstem of McWay Creek. After the mainstem is formed, the creek winds south and west through a narrow canyon to where it meets the South Fork at an elevation of roughly 400 feet (120 m).

The South Fork, the largest sub-basin in the McWay Creek watershed, begins at an elevation of 2,559 feet (780 m)[5] on the east side of a ridge that separates it from the mainstem. After flowing south and turning slightly in a south-southwest direction, it meets McWay Creek. The creek then heads southwest, passing a parking area for Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park and crossing under California's Highway 1 via a concrete culvert. It spills into the Pacific Ocean at Waterfall Cove.

There are a number of waterfalls in the basin of McWay Creek. The most well-known is McWay Falls, which spills 80 feet (24 m) onto a sandy beach at Waterfall Cove.[6] A smaller waterfall, the two-tier, 30-foot (9.1 m) McWay Creek Falls, is located upstream of the Highway 1 culvert and the parking area.[7] A small 30-foot (9.1 m) cascade, Canyon Trail Falls, is fed by the South Fork just before it meets McWay Creek.[8] As most of the creek is steep and rocky, there are many unnamed waterfalls that also exist. McWay Creek is fed by a number of springs in McWay Canyon, permitting it to flow year round.[6]

History

Christopher McWay homesteaded the canyon in which the creek flows in the late 1870s.[9] In 1924, Lathrop and Helen Hooper Brown began to purchase land around the mouth of McWay Creek for use as a ranch (the Saddle Rock Ranch). At about this time, they befriended the daughter of the Pfeiffer family, who were pioneers in the Big Sur area, Julia Pfeiffer Burns.[10] At around this time, a Pelton wheel was constructed on McWay Creek, a few hundred yards upstream of Highway 1. The turbine, which is not in use today, originally generated hydroelectricity for Saddle Rock Ranch.[11] In the 1940s, a well-known limestone house, the "Waterfall House", was constructed on a bluff on the north side of Waterfall Cove, overlooking McWay Falls.[6] The state park is named after Julia Pfeiffer Burns. Helen Hooper Brown requested that the house be demolished in 1962, after the designation of the state park. It should not be confused with Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park to the north.[10]

Prior to 1983, the creek plunged directly into the ocean. A landslide begun by a wildfire in 1983, coincided with road construction work in 1983-84. These factors contributed to a large amount of material being dumped into Waterfall Cove, creating the crescent-shaped beach. The slide also damaged parts of the Waterfall Trail, although that damage has been repaired.[3]

Biology

The humid coastal climate of Big Sur and the McWay Canyon area supports a wide variety of vegetation in McWay Canyon. By the coast, the most prominent riparian vegetation consists of willows, alders, western coltsfoot and elk clover, with other species also existing among the dominant plants. Redwood trees also exist in McWay Canyon, but due to salty ocean air, it is said that the ones closer to the shore have not survived healthily. Coastal sage scrub is the dominant ground cover, specked by monkey flowers, Indian paintbrush, common yarrow, blue blossom and coast morning glory.[12] Upstream, oaks and bay trees begin to take presence. Ground cover consists of mostly sword fern, gooseberry, western wake robin and redwood sorrel. Forest clearings, found near higher elevations, consist of hedge nettle, bracken fern, and wild iris. Redwoods are still prevalent in the upstream areas of the watershed with one rumored to be the largest in the Big Sur area. As elevations increase, live oak, chamise and Coulter pine begin to make presence.[13]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "McWay Creek". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2009-07-05.
  2. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed March 15, 2011
  3. 1 2 "McWay Waterfall Trail".
  4. ↑ Source elevation derived from Google Earth, GNIS search coordinates and state park map
  5. 1 2 3 Source elevation is an estimate from Google Earth
  6. 1 2 3 Turnbull, Leon. "McWay Falls". www.waterfallswest.com. Retrieved 2009-07-05.
  7. ↑ Shaffer, p. 250
  8. ↑ Shaffer, p. 251
  9. ↑ Kinneberg, Caroline (August 2010). "America's Most Beautiful Coastal Views". Travel+Lesiure. Retrieved 2012-07-04.
  10. 1 2 "Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park". California State Parks. www.parks.ca.gov. Retrieved 2009-07-05.
  11. ↑ Elliot, p. 110
  12. ↑ Henson, p. 332
  13. ↑ Henson, p. 333

Works cited

External links

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