The eastern fork flows westward along Rocks Road east of, then around the north flank of, Pinacate Peak[6] until it crosses back into Monterey County and under Highway 156/101, joining the Carneros Creek mainstem in the Cañada de la Carpinteria.

The channel walls have been reinforced with dredge spoil levees to provide some level of flood protection for the surrounding property.

However, there is evidence that Carneros Creek was once a meandering stream with connected floodplains, oxbow ponds, and wetlands that would have supported riparian habitat and amphibian populations.

[3] Agricultural and Land-based Training Association (ALBA) and through a 4-year USEPA grant, the Coastal Watershed Council (CWC) is monitoring the impacts of organic farming practices and wetland restoration on water quality in Carneros Creek at ALBA’s Triple M Ranch in North Monterey County.

[11] Puma or mountain lion (Puma concolor) occur in the Carneros Creek watershed and are part of the central California coast evolutionary significant unit (ESU) under consideration for federal and state listing as threatened given their small numbers, poor connection to neighboring populations, and low genetic diversity.