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2018 Map of Petaluma River

Name: 2018 Topographic Map of Petaluma River
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 2018
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 2018

About this map

Petaluma and Novato anchor this corridor where the coastal hills meet the complex tidal wetlands of the north bay. The Petaluma River winds through a landscape defined by an intricate network of sloughs, including Schultz Slough, Mud Slough, and Donahue Slough. These waterways create distinct landforms like Neils Island and Burdell Island, which remain prominent even as development encroaches from the north and south.

Transport and topography dictate the region's character, with the Mt Burdell massif rising sharply to the west of the Gnoss Field airstrip. To the east, the historic river landing at Lakeville and the reach at Cloudy Bend mark the transition toward the open marshes of the San Antonio Creek drainage. Traces of early rail and river-oriented settlements persist in place names like Haystack, McNear, and Burdell, highlighting the long-standing role of this valley as a vital transit artery between the inland hills and the bay.