Sausal Creek is a 3.0-mile-long (4.8 km)[4] northwesterly-flowing stream originating in Portola Valley along the northeastern edge of the Windy Hill Open Space Preserve in the eastern foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, in San Mateo County, California, United States.

[1] Sausal Creek flows through the Rancho Cañada del Corte de Madera meaning "a place where wood is cut", reflecting the importance of the timber industry in the early days of Portola Valley.

"Sausal" is derived from the Spanish word "Sauce" or "Sauz" and mean "willow grove", a name that appears as early as 1853.

It runs northwest in the San Andreas Fault zone and after crossing Family Farm Road off Portola Road it is one of a nexus of half a dozen creeks that coalesce in a large natural freshwater marsh to form Corte Madera Creek.

[8] For decades a 630 feet long section of Sausal Creek was buried in an underground culvert.