Sespe Creek

Stream in California

Sespe Creek (Chumash: S'eqp'e', "Kneecap") is a stream, some 61 mile (98 km) long, in Ventura County, southern California, in the Western United States.

The creek remains free from major habitat modifications and is noteworthy for its lack of dams, although one was originally proposed for a site named Topa Topa near Sespe Hot Springs in the Sespe Wilderness. After originating above 5000 feet (1524 m) in the Sierra Madre Mountains in the northwest corner of the Ojai Ranger District, about 75 percent of the Sespe Creek subwatershed is characterized by numerous rugged slopes and canyon walls of the southern Pine Mountains. It flows intermittently but is characterized by a series of permanent deep pools. Major tributaries include the Lion Canyon, Hot Springs Canyon, Timber, West Fork Sespe and Little Sespe Creeks, although over 30 creeks and springs nourish it. Sespe Creek receives most of its rainfall between January and April, and furnishes 40% of the water flowing in the Santa Clara River.

Much of Sespe Creek is protected within the Los Padres National Forest. The approximately Sespe Wilderness Area encompasses 31.5 mile (51 km) of Sespe Creek. Established in 1992, the Wilderness Area contains a Sespe Condor Sanctuary. Approximately 10.5 mile (17 km) of upper Sespe Creek have been designated as wild and scenic. Furthermore, the stream is designated as a wild trout stream from the Lion Camp area in the upper subwatershed downstream to the Los Padres National Forest boundary north of and near the City of Fillmore. The Sespe is one of southern California's last free flowing southern Steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus) streams.