Fall Turns Secret Ravine into Salmon Hot Spot

Even with low numbers, Chinook salmon, steelhead trout spawn at local creek

Every year, Loomis residents host a sought-after guest that puts the town on the map.

When California salmon make their journey upstream from the ocean, and through the Sacramento River, at the end of the year, many make their way to the Secret Ravine Salmon Habitat in Loomis Basin Regional Park to spawn.

Secret Ravine Creek is one of the few streams where fish like Chinook salmon and steelhead trout continue to make spawning migrations. It is also one of Dry Creek’s largest tributaries.

According to Dry Creek Conservancy Director Gregg Bates, about 80 percent of Dry Creek’s fish spawn in Secret Ravine — though they come in increasingly dwindling numbers. While in the past the creek has seen thousands of fish spawn in its waters, Bates says last year there was only “a handful.”

“One of the reasons to be so happy and careful about the fish that we have is because this is one of the only places left where they can (spawn),” he said…

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