Burke Creek
| Burke Creek Friday Creek | |
|---|---|
Location of the mouth of Burke Creek at Round Hill, Nevada | |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Nevada |
| Region | Douglas County |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | South of Genoa Peak in the Carson Range east of Lake Tahoe |
| • coordinates | 38°59′51″N 119°53′45″W / 38.99750°N 119.89583°W[1] |
| • elevation | 7,801 ft (2,378 m) |
| Mouth | Lake Tahoe |
• location | Round Hill Village, Nevada |
• coordinates | 38°58′36″N 119°57′6″W / 38.97667°N 119.95167°W[1] |
• elevation | 6,286 ft (1,916 m)[1] |
Burke Creek is a westward-flowing stream originating south of Genoa Peak in the Carson Range of the Sierra Nevada in Douglas County, Nevada, United States. It is tributary to the southeastern shore of Lake Tahoe at Round Hill Village, Nevada.[2]
History
The Washoe people camped along Burke Creek as evidenced by a mortar site near its mouth.[3]
Burke Creek was named for Martin K. "Friday" Burke who built a log cabin along an improved Washoe game path that wound along the lakeshore towards Cave Rock. Burke started the first commercial fishing business on Lake Tahoe, known as Burke & Company, which drew seine nets 600 yards long over the Lahontan cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus henshawi) spawning beds, "taking occasionally a thousand pounds per night". The creek was also known as Friday Creek.[4]
Watershed
Burke Creek originates south of Genoa Peak in the Carson Range of the Sierra Nevada, upstream from Castle Rock and the Tahoe Rim Trail in Kingsbury, Nevada. This is located north of where Castle Rock Road becomes Genoa Peak Road. Burke Creek is joined by several unnamed tributaries and as it descends westerly towards Lake Tahoe forms the northern border of Kingsbury. After crossing U.S. Route 50, the southern route of the Lincoln Highway, it forms the border between Round Hill Village and Stateline, Nevada, flowing through Rabe Meadow before entering Lake Tahoe in Round Hill.
Ecology
North American beaver (Castor canadensis) inhabit Jennings Pond on Burke Creek in Rabe Meadow.[5] Beaver are historically native to the Sierra Nevada.[6][7] Not only have aspen and cottonwood survived ongoing beaver colonization but a recent study of ten Tahoe streams utilizing aerial multispectral videography has shown that deciduous, thick herbaceous, and thin herbaceous vegetation are more highly concentrated near beaver dams, whereas coniferous trees are decreased.[8] Benefits of beaver dams include removal of sediment and excessive pollutants travelling downstream, which improves lake clarity, which was shown to worsen recently when beaver dams were removed in two Lake Tahoe tributary streams.[9]
See also
References
- ^ a b c "Burke Creek". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map Archived March 29, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, accessed June 2, 2025
- ^ Murphy, Dennis D.; Knopp, Christopher M. (2000). Lake Tahoe Watershed Assessment, Volume I. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-175 (Report). Albany, California: Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, US Department of Agriculture. p. 753.
- ^ Barbara Lekisch (1988). Tahoe Place Names: The Origin and History of Names in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Great West Books. p. 11. ISBN 9780944220016.
- ^ Tobi Tyler (January 11, 2024). "Jennings Pond Proposed Removal On Lower Burke Creek". Sierra Club Tahoe Area Group. Retrieved June 2, 2025.
- ^ James, C.D.; Lanman, R.B. (Spring 2012). "Novel physical evidence that beaver historically were native to the Sierra Nevada". California Fish and Game. 98 (2): 129–132. Retrieved June 2, 2025.
- ^ Lanman, RB; Perryman, H; Dolman, B; James, CD (Spring 2012). "The historical range of beaver in the Sierra Nevada: a review of the evidence". California Fish and Game. 98 (2): 65–80. Retrieved June 2, 2025.
- ^ Michael Benson Ayers (October 1997). Aerial Multispectral Videography for Vegetation Mapping and Assessment of Beaver Distribution within Selected Riparian Areas of the Lake Tahoe Basin (Thesis). University of Nevada at Reno. p. 71. Retrieved June 2, 2025.
- ^ Sarah Muskopf (October 2007). The Effect of Beaver (Castor canadensis) Dam Removal on Total Phosphorus Concentration in Taylor Creek and Wetland, South Lake Tahoe, California (Thesis). Humboldt State University, Natural Resources. hdl:2148/264.