Glen Echo Creek and Moraga Canyon
Moraga Canyon has been known by various names
The local Geology website “Oakland Geology” offers photography, research and discussions of natural features in Oakland, Piedmont and Berkeley. The following excerpts from an article on Moraga Canyon note its geologic features, alterations and various names:
The valley of Glen Echo Creek, “Mountain View Valley,” is much larger than the current creek has the power to excavate. This is especially apparent at its head, above Mountain View Cemetery where the creek is also known as Cemetery Creek. The valley is a steep-sided, tree-filled dogleg, almost a gorge, with homes perched high above a land-filled floor and Moraga Avenue running through it. It’s almost a box canyon with no sizable watershed to feed it.
Perhaps, like Dimond Canyon, there is an explanation that involves a beheaded watershed from movement on the Hayward fault. The rock at the valley head, above the narrowest spot at Maxwelton Road, is Franciscan mélange, which is not an especially rigid rock. A bit of compression across the fault might squeeze it up, like clay in the hand.
Excerpted from an article on the “Oakland Geology” website. Read the full article.
The Piedmont Avenue Neighborhood Improvement League (PANIL) has also reported on Glen Echo Creek.
Moraga Canyon, Mountain View Valley, Valley of Glen Echo Creek, Cemetery Creek, so many names for this area. Readers, what name do you use? What do you know about Glen Echo Creek? Add your comment below.
