# Secret Ravine

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For the former settlement, see [Secret Ravine, California](/source/Secret_Ravine,_California).

**Secret Ravine** is a perennial [tributary](/source/Tributary) of Miners Ravine which shortly thereafter runs into [Dry Creek](/source/Dry_Creek_(American_River)) in [Placer County, California](/source/Placer_County,_California). Its course lies within the cities of [Rocklin](/source/Rocklin,_California), [Loomis](/source/Loomis,_California), and [Roseville](/source/Roseville,_California), as well as unincorporated parts of Placer County. It passes through the campus of [Sierra College](/source/Sierra_College). Over its entire length the creek runs near the [Interstate 80](/source/Interstate_80_in_California) freeway. It is an area becoming increasingly suburbanized. It was the site of placer mining operations during the [California Gold Rush](/source/California_Gold_Rush), and areas of [tailings](/source/Tailings) remain to this day. Later the drainage was a locale for [granite](/source/Granite) quarrying.

## History

The [Rocklin Cemetery](/source/Rocklin_Cemetery) is very close to the ravine. An old Indian cemetery was farther up the drainage.

In 1869 some laid-off [Chinese railroad workers](/source/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](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pogrom) of September 1876. This area is still known as China Gardens.[1]

- Drainage area: 19.7 square miles (51 km2)
- Stream length: 10.5 miles (16.9 km)
- Elevation at source: 1,285 feet (392 m)
- Elevation at confluence: 165 feet (50 m)

The [Secret Ravine Post Office](/source/Secret_Ravine,_California) operated from 1854 to 1868.[2] The U.S. Census for 1860 lists it as the address for [Jean Baptiste Charbonneau](/source/Jean_Baptiste_Charbonneau) - mountain man and son of [Toussaint Charbonneau](/source/Toussaint_Charbonneau) and the [Lewis and Clark Expedition](/source/Lewis_and_Clark_Expedition)'s guide [Sacagawea](/source/Sacagawea).

## Parks

- *Loomis Basin Community Park* is off King Road just east of Loomis. The park consists of a North and a South division on each side of Secret Ravine. Giant boulders dot this wooded area.

## Places named for the Secret Ravine tributary

- Secret Ravine Parkway, in Roseville
- Secret Ravine Road, in an unincorporated area east of Loomis
- Secret Ravine School, [Newcastle, California](/source/Newcastle,_California)
- Secret Ravine Vineyard and Winery, in Loomis[3]
- Secret Ravine Way, in Rocklin

*NOTE: A second Secret Ravine, also in Placer County, flows into the North Fork of the [American River](/source/American_River) near Colfax. It was alternatively called Robbers Ravine.* [4]

## References

1. Ruhkala, Roy (1974). ["History of Rocklin California: From Gold to Granite"](http://www.rocklinhistory.org/written_history/written_roy-1974.asp). *www.rocklinhistory.org*. Rocklin Historical Society. Retrieved 2021-12-07.

1. [postalhistory.com](http://www.postalhistory.com/postoffices.asp?task=display&state=CA&county=Placer&searchtext=&pagenum=4)

1. ["About"](http://www.secretravine.com/home.html). *Secret Ravine Vineyard and Winery*. 2008-05-09. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20080509083223/http://www.secretravine.com/home.html) 2008-05-09 at the Wayback Machine.

1. [California's Geographic Names - "Secret Ravine"](https://books.google.com/books?id=Yfa0hmE7yocC&dq=%22secret+ravine%22&pg=PA553)

## External links

- [Secret Ravine Adaptive Management Plan](https://drycreekconservancy.org/sramp/)
- [Wintering at Secret Ravine](http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/CA-GOLDRUSH/1998-09/0906826722)[dead link] (tale from the Gold Rush days)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Secret Ravine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_Ravine) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_Ravine?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.