Secret Ravine

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Secret Ravine is a perennial tributary of Miners Ravine which shortly thereafter runs into Dry Creek located in Placer County, California. Its course lies within the cities of Rocklin, Loomis, and Roseville, as well as unincorporated parts of Placer County. It passes through the campus of Sierra College. Over its entire length the creek runs near to the I-80 freeway. It is an area becoming increasingly surburbanized. It was the site of placer mining operations during the California Gold Rush, and areas of tailings remain to this day. Later the drainage was a locale for granite quarrying.

Rocklin Cemetery is located very close to the ravine. It was started in 1864 when a corpse was found and buried on the spot. An old Indian cemetery was located farther up the drainage.

In 1869 some laid-off Chinese railroad workers moved to Secret Ravine to mine. They also raised vegetables which they marketed locally. They were driven out during the anti-Chinese pogrom of September 1876. This area is still known as China Gardens. [1]

Drainage area: 19.7 square miles
Stream length: 10.5 miles
Elevation at source: 1285 feet
Elevation at confluence: 165 feet

[edit] Parks

Loomis Basin Regional Park is located off King Road, just east of Loomis. The park consists of two segments on each side of Secret Ravine. Giant boulders dot this wooded area..

[edit] Places named for Secret Ravine

Secret Ravine Parkway, in Roseville
Secret Ravine Road, in an unincorporated area east of Loomis
Secret Ravine School, Newcastle, California
Secret Ravine Vineyard and Winery, [2] in Loomis
Secret Ravine Way, in Rocklin

NOTE: A second Secret Ravine, also in Placer County, flows into the North Fork of the American River near Colfax. It was alternatively called Robbers Ravine. [3]