San Tomas Aquino Creek

San Tomas Aquinas Creek, known locally as San Tomas Aquino Creek, is a 16.5-mile-long (26.6 km) stream[2] that heads on El Sereno mountain in El Sereno Open Space Preserve in Saratoga, California in Santa Clara County, California, United States.

It begins in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains within the city of Monte Sereno, then flows northerly through portions of Los Gatos and Campbell until its confluence with San Tomas Aquino Creek.

Due to its relatively large size, the Saratoga Creek subwatershed is often viewed as a distinct watershed even though it does not directly discharge to the Lower South San Francisco Bay.

[9] Recent genetic analysis has shown that the San Tomas Aquino watershed trout are of native origin and not hatchery stock.

[17] Leidy (2007) identified the native fishes in San Tomas Aquino Creek as Hitch (Lavinia exilicauda), California roach (Lavinia symmetricus), Sacramento sucker (Catostomus occidentalis occidentalis), Three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), rainbow trout (Oncohrynchus mykiss irideus) and possibly Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha).

Roger Castillo, a founder of the Salmon and Steelhead Restoration Group, with a huge Chinook salmon ( Oncorhynchus tshawytscha ), now a taxidermy wall mount specimen, that he recovered from San Tomas Aquino Creek below Highway 237 in mid-October, 1996.