Red Clover Creek is a northeastward-flowing 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...

 originating on Horton Ridge east of the Sierra Nevada crest in Plumas County, California

Plumas County, California

Plumas County is a county located in the Sierra Nevada of the U.S. state of California. The county gets its name from the Spanish words for the Feather River , which flows through the county. As of the 2010 census, the population 20,007, down from 20,824 at the 2000 census...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It courses 27 miles (43.5 km) through Dotta Canyon and the Red Clover Valley, culminating in Last Chance Creek, which flows in turn, into Indian Creek in the Genesee Valley, and from there to the East Branch North Fork Feather River. The Red Clover Valley sits at an elevation of about 5,400 feet and is located on the east side of the Sierra Nevada crest, approximately 60 miles north of Truckee

Truckee, California

Truckee is an incorporated town in Nevada County, California, United States. The population was 16,180 at the 2010 census, up from 13,864 at the 2000 census.-Name:...

 and 30 miles southeast of Quincy

Quincy, California

Quincy is a census-designated place and the county seat of Plumas County, California. The population was 1,728 at the 2010 census, down from 1,879 at the 2000 census. Quincy is named after the city of Quincy, Illinois...

. This region of the northern Sierra Nevada is known as the Diamond Mountains

Diamond Mountains (California)

----The Diamond Mountains are a mountain range in Plumas County, California, which includes several named points on the Sierra Crest ....

.

Development and recreation

Most of the Red Clover Creek Basin is uninhabited, although a few residences and vacation homes exist near the mouth in Genesee Valley. Most of the mountain and foothill lands are owned and managed by the U. S. Forest Service for timber production, wildlife management, grazing, recreation, and watershed management. There are no developed campgrounds along Red Clover Creek, however, there are several areas that offer suitable camping, and are frequented by campers, hunters, and fishermen. County Route 111, a dirt and gravel road, follows the creek from Red Clover Valley to Genesee Valley, and is referred to as the Genesee-Beckworth road.

Watershed

The largest tributary watersheds are those of Crocker and Dixie Creeks. The upper and middle reaches are low gradient, alluvial valleys while the lower reach runs through a bouldered canyon.

Prior to 1880, the upper portion of Red Clover Creek, was as a low gradient, narrow channel with a well-developed riparian zone comprising hardwoods, sedges, and willows that protected the streambanks. It had a reputation as a good trout fishery. Heavy sheep and cattle grazing, eliminated riparian vegetation, leading to erosion of the creek. By 1985, the actively eroding channel was 50 to 60 feet wide and had vertical incised to a depth of ten feet. The erosion contributed large amounts of sediment to the North Fork Feather River system via Indian Creek.

Ecology

After grazing removed riparian vegetation and extirpation of California Golden beaver (Castor canadensis subauratus) allowed erosion to incise the creek channel and lower the water table, the once-productive wet meadows converted to a dry sagebrush-dominated basin with minimal vegetation and little cover for fish. This area has been subject to multiple stream restoration efforts by the Plumas Corporation.

Four species of fish are known to occur in Red Clover Creek, including Rainbow trout

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....

 (Oncorhynchus mykiss), Brown trout

Brown trout

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

 (Salmo trutta), Mountain sucker

Mountain sucker

The Mountain Sucker is a sucker found throughout western North America.This is a slender and streamlined sucker, generally olive green to brown above and on the sides, and white to yellowish underneath. There may be a pattern of darker blotches along the sides...

 (Catostomus platyrhynchus) and Speckled dace

Speckled dace

The speckled dace , also known as the spotted dace and the carpita pinta, is a member of the carp family. It is found in temperate freshwater in North America, from Sonora to British Columbia....

(Rhinichthys osculus).