Cold Creek for kids
The Creek That Might Have Been a River Road. A true story near Ukiah, CA, told for kids 6-8.
Read along
Look out the window. Do you see a little creek down in the trees? This is Cold Creek, and it has a big secret! People think that a long, long time ago, water from a huge lake called Clear Lake may have flowed this way, all the way to the Russian River.
Then, whoosh, a giant landslide may have blocked the path! It was like a mountain-sized pile of dirt and rocks plopping down in the road. Imagine a giant spilling a whole bucket of rocks right in the middle of a water slide! After that, the lake turned around and started draining the other way, toward the Sacramento River.
Now, can you spot any water or a bridge over a creek out your window? Give a big splash sound if you do!
Quiz the back seat
What do people think blocked the old path from Clear Lake to this creek?
Show the answer
A giant landslide. A landslide! Cold Creek is about eight and a half miles long, which is a bit longer than a hundred and fifty school buses parked in a row.
3 fun facts
- Cold Creek is a tributary of the East Fork Russian River in Mendocino County.
- It may once have connected Clear Lake to the Russian River before a large landslide blocked the route.
- Cold Creek is 8.5 miles long.
For grown-ups
Written with AI from public sources, then checked claim by claim against the sources below before it was published; stories that don't pass stay off the app and this site. Narration is pre-recorded, and nothing you do on this page is tied to your kids.
Sources
Roads
Town and county names: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0).