Morro Creek


Morro Creek is a coastal stream in San Luis [Obispo County, California|San Luis Obispo County], in the central region of the U.S. state of California. The watercourse flows from the Santa Lucia Mountains to discharge into the Pacific Ocean, at its mouth on Estero Bay, near the city of Morro Bay.

Natural history

The creek is in the California [coastal sage and chaparral|coastal sage and chaparral] section of the California [chaparral and woodlands] Ecoregion. Historically this watershed had habitats containing considerable amounts of chaparral, and scarce California [oak woodland|Oak woodland]s, and Grey Pine (Pinus sabiniana) trees.

Cultural history

The lower reaches of Morro Creek were used as a significant settlement of the Chumash tribe since at least the Millingstone Horizon.
There is also incidence of historic mining of chromium within the catchment basin. It was used extensively for grazing by the cattle ranches.