North Carrizo Creek

North Carrizo Creek
Location
CountryUnited States
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationBaca County, Colorado
Mouth 
 • location
Cimarron County, Oklahoma
 • coordinates
36°56′06″N 102°56′32″W / 36.93500°N 102.94222°W / 36.93500; -102.94222[1]
 • elevation
4,262 feet (1,299 m)[1]
Basin features
ProgressionCimarron RiverArkansasMississippi

North Carrizo Creek forms in Baca County, Colorado at the confluence of East Carrizo Creek and West Carrizo Creek, at a point about 6 miles north of the Preston Monument, the tripoint of Colorado, Oklahoma and New Mexico.[2][3] North Carrizo Creek then flows generally south-southeast into Oklahoma to join the Cimarron River northeast of Kenton, Oklahoma and near Black Mesa. The creek is about 12 miles (19 km) long in straight-line distance from its head to its mouth.[4] Most of the land near the creek is privately owned, although a few tracts of land in Colorado are part of Comanche National Grassland. There are no towns or settlement along or near the creek.[5]

North Carrizo Creek flows through a area characterized by mesas and narrow valleys. The climate is semi-arid steppe, Bsk in the Köppen Classification. Vegetation is mostly grassland although pinyon and juniper woodland is found in canyons and on steep slopes.[6] Precipitation in Kenton averages 17.15 in (436 mm) annually. July and August are the rainiest months.[7] Elevations along the creek range from 4,262 ft (1,299 m) at its mouth to about 4,564 ft (1,391 m) at its source.[8][1]

The creek has also been known as Carrizo Creek, Carrizozo Creek, Carrizzo Creek, and North Carrizozo Creek.[1] (There is a Carrizozo Creek in the area, but it joins the Cimarron River to the west.)[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "North Carrizo Creek". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2021-07-23.
  2. ^ "West Carrizo Creek, Creek in Colorado". Natural Atlas. Retrieved July 13, 2021.
  3. ^ "North Carrizo Creek, Oklahoma". Google Maps. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
  4. ^ "North Carrizo Creek, Creek in OK, CO". Natural Atlas. Retrieved July 13, 2021.
  5. ^ Hazlett 2004, p. 1.
  6. ^ Hazlett, Donald >. "Vascular Plant Species of the Comanche National Grassland in Southeast Eastern Colorado" (PDF). USDA. pp. 4–9.
  7. ^ "Climate: Kenton, Oklahoma". U.S. Climate Data.
  8. ^ Google Earth
  9. ^ "Carrizozo Creek". Natural Atlas. Retrieved August 18, 2021.