Hat Creek is a 48.7 miles (78.4 km) stream

Stream

A stream is a body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, "crick", gill , kill, lick, rill, river, syke, bayou, rivulet, streamage, wash, run or...

 in Shasta County

Shasta County, California

Shasta County is a county located in the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The county occupies the northern reaches of the Sacramento Valley, with portions extending into the southern reaches of the Cascade Range. As of the 2010 census, the population was 177,223, up from 163,256...

 in northern California

Northern California

Northern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The San Francisco Bay Area , and Sacramento as well as its metropolitan area are the main population centers...

. The creek rises in two forks on the eastern slopes of Lassen Peak

Lassen Peak

Lassen Peak is the southernmost active volcano in the Cascade Range. It is part of the Cascade Volcanic Arc which is an arc that stretches from northern California to southwestern British Columbia...

 in Lassen Volcanic National Park

Lassen Volcanic National Park

Lassen Volcanic National Park is a United States National Park in northeastern California. The dominant feature of the park is Lassen Peak; the largest plug dome volcano in the world and the southern-most volcano in the Cascade Range...

, and flows northward through Lassen National Forest

Lassen National Forest

Lassen National Forest is a national forest of 1,700 square miles in northeastern California. It is named after pioneer Peter Lassen, who mined, ranched and promoted the area to emigrant parties in the 1850s.- Overview :...

 to its mouth at Lake Britton

Lake Britton

Lake Britton is a reservoir located in Shasta County, California. It is known for its wide variety of bass and trout. It is situated to the west of State Route 89, and is surrounded mostly by McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park, and runs along North Shore campgrounds and Dusty Campgrounds. It...

 near Burney, California

Burney, California

Burney is an unincorporated town and census-designated place in Shasta County, California, United States. The population was 3,154 at the 2010 census, down from 3,217 at the 2000 census...

.

Hat Creek is so named because a surveyor lost his hat there. Perhaps it was blown off by one of the same thermal

Thermal

A thermal column is a column of rising air in the lower altitudes of the Earth's atmosphere. Thermals are created by the uneven heating of the Earth's surface from solar radiation, and are an example of convection. The sun warms the ground, which in turn warms the air directly above it...

s that hang glider pilots use to soar there.

Wild Trout Waterway

The lower three and a half miles of the creek has been designated by the California Department of Fish and Game

California Department of Fish and Game

The California Department of Fish and Game is a department within the government of California, falling under its parent California Natural Resources Agency. The Department of Fish and Game manages and protects the state's diverse fish, wildlife, plant resources, and native habitats...

 as a "Wild Trout Waterway," with restrictive catch limits. This area has a similar geology to the chalk stream

Chalk stream

Chalk streams have characteristics which set them apart from watercourses associated with other rock types.Aside from those with an interest in the geological and ecological disciplines, the term chalk stream is most widely used among a small group of fly fishermen ,...

s of southern England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, and is considered a classic trout

Trout

Trout is the name for a number of species of freshwater and saltwater fish belonging to the Salmoninae subfamily of the family Salmonidae. Salmon belong to the same family as trout. Most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water...

 stream. The trout population is made of wild rainbow

Rainbow trout

The rainbow trout is a species of salmonid native to tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead is a sea run rainbow trout usually returning to freshwater to spawn after 2 to 3 years at sea. In other words, rainbow trout and steelhead trout are the same species....

 and brown trout

Brown trout

The brown trout and the sea trout are fish of the same species....

 of up to 20 inches (50.8 cm) in length.

Towns

The main towns along Hat Creek are Hat Creek

Hat Creek, California

Hat Creek is a census-designated place in Shasta County, California. Hat Creek sits at an elevation of . The 2010 United States census reported Hat Creek's population was 309....

 and Old Station

Old Station, California

Old Station is a census-designated place in Shasta County, California. It is located 13 miles north of Lassen Volcanic National Park, directly in between Redding and Susanville. The ZIP code in Old Station is 96071 and the area code 530. Old Station sits at an elevation of...

, which is closer to Lassen Park. The Hat Creek Radio Observatory

Hat Creek Radio Observatory

The Hat Creek Radio Observatory is operated by the Radio Astronomy Laboratory in the Western United States.- Location :...

 is located near the town of Hat Creek.

During the May 19, 1915 eruption of Mount Lassen, a lahar

Lahar

A lahar is a type of mudflow or debris flow composed of a slurry of pyroclastic material, rocky debris, and water. The material flows down from a volcano, typically along a river valley. The term is a shortened version of "berlahar" which originated in the Javanese language of...

or mudflow swept down Hat Creek and neighboring Lost Creek.