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Hare Creek
Location
Country	United States
State	California
County	Mendocino
Protected area	Jackson Demonstration State Forest
Physical characteristics
Source	Bunker Gulch
• coordinates	39°23′10″N 123°43′39″W / 39.3862°N 123.7274°W / 39.3862; -123.7274
• elevation	680 ft (210 m) above MSL
Mouth	Pacific Ocean
• coordinates	39°25′02″N 123°48′46″W / 39.41718°N 123.81290°W / 39.41718; -123.81290
• elevation	Local mean sea level
Length	8 mi (13 km)
Basin size	5.2 sq mi (13 km)
Width
• minimum	3 ft (0.91 m)
• average	12 ft (3.7 m)
• maximum	30 ft (9.1 m)
Depth
• minimum	0.2 ft (0.061 m)
• average	1 ft (0.30 m)
• maximum	8.5 ft (2.6 m)
Discharge
• location	Creek mouth
• average	1.5 cu ft/s (0.042 m/s)
Discharge
• location	Valley Road (end)
• average	2 cu ft/s (0.057 m/s)
Discharge
• location	Covington Gulch
• average	1 cu ft/s (0.028 m/s)
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	South Fork Hare Creek
• right	Covington Creek
Gradient	61ft/mi (11.6m/km)
Source:

Hare Creek is a small stream in Mendocino County, California, just south of Fort Bragg. It is approximately 12.4 kilometres (7.7 mi) long and all but the final 1.14 miles (1.83 km) of its watercourse lies within Jackson Demonstration State Forest. With its four tributaries, it drains an area of approximately 2,400 hectares (9.3 sq mi). Its watershed is bordered on the north by the Noyo River, and on the south by Digger Creek. It is a significant habitat for coho salmon. It meets the Pacific Ocean at Hare Creek Beach, also known as Babcock Beach, which is owned and operated by the Mendocino Land Trust.

A railway line, the Caspar & Hare Creek Railroad, had formerly carried logs 6 miles (9.7 km) from Hare Creek to a sawmill on Jug Handle Creek.

The Hare Creek Bridge, also known as the Sergeant Emil H. Evensen Memorial Bridge, carries California State Route 1 over the creek, just south of its junction with the western terminus of California State Route 20. Like the Frederick W. Panhorst Bridge and the Jug Handle Bridge several miles to the south, it is a reinforced concrete open-spandrel deck arch bridge, but differs from them in having two partial side arches. It was originally built in 1947. In 2007, its substructure was rated to be in good condition, but its deck was classified as "poor". A Caltrans project, planned to begin in 2025, is set to widen the bridge, upgrade its rails, and retrofit it for seismic safety standards.

In September 2022, the Mendocino County Public Health Office issued a warning to avoid contact with the water at the creek's mouth after routine sampling discovered dangerously high levels of enterococcus bacteria.

References

1. ^ Roberts, Kori; Bernstein, Ryan; Karlov, Rachel; Tevini, Chris (April 2018), California Department of Fish and Wildlife Stream Inventory Report: Hare Creek (PDF), Calif. Dept. of Fish & Wildlife, archived from the original on September 11, 2023, retrieved September 10, 2023
2. "Hare Creek", Geographic Names Information System, United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior, retrieved 2023-01-29
3. Spence, Brian C.; Harris, Scott L.; Jones, Weldon E.; Goslin, Matthew N.; Agrawal, Aditya; Mora, Ethan (October 2005), Historical occurrence of coho salmon in streams of the central California coast coho salmon evolutionarily significant unit (PDF), NOAA, p. 45
4. Hare Creek Trail, Mendocino Land Trust, retrieved 2023-01-05
5. Caspar Lumber Company, Mendocino Coast Model Railroad & Historical Society, retrieved 2023-01-05
6. "Hare Creek Bridge", Bridgehunter.com, retrieved 2023-01-05
7. Hartzell, Frank (September 27, 2007), "Coast's last big wooden bridge is kin to Minnesota bridge, Part 3 of 3", Mendocino Beacon, retrieved 2023-01-05
8. Hare Creek Bridge Rehabilitation Project, Caltrans, retrieved 2023-01-05
9. "Public urged to avoid the water at Hare Creek in Fort Bragg", Ukiah Daily Journal, September 9, 2022, retrieved September 10, 2023

• Rivers of Mendocino County, California