page_title: Salinas Valley
section_title: Land placing
hierarchical_section_title: Salinas Valley / Land placing
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of the Salinas River watershed in Central California, USA. Made using USGS National Map data.
context_page_description: The Salinas Valley is one of the major valleys and most productive agricultural regions in California. It is located west of the San Joaquin Valley and south of San Francisco Bay and the Santa Clara Valley, or Silicon Valley.
  The Salinas River, which geologically formed the fluvial valley and generated its human history, flows to the northwest or 'up' along the principal axis and length of the valley.
  The valley was named during the late 18th-century Spanish colonial Alta California period, and in Spanish salina is the term for a salt marsh, salt lake, or salt pan. The seasonal Salinas River had brackish tule ponds in broad depressed areas, and more salinity during summer and drought lowered flows.
  The valley runs in a southeast to northwest alignment. It begins south of San Ardo, framed by the central inner California Coast Ranges, continues north-westward continuously defined on the west by the Santa Lucia Range, on the east by the Gabilan Range, to its end and the river's mouth at the Monterey Bay.
  It is also known for being the setting of the 1952 novel East of Eden, by John Steinbeck.
context_section_description: The Salinas Valley runs approximately 90 miles (145 km) southeast from the Salinas River mouth near Castroville and Salinas towards King City and San Ardo.  The valley lends its name to the geologic province in which it is located, the Salinian Block.  Cities and populated places in the Salinas Valley include Bradley, Castroville, Chualar, Gonzales, Greenfield, Jolon, King City,  Salinas, San Ardo, San Lucas, Soledad and Spreckels. The Salinas Valley is located in between the Gabilan and Santa Lucia mountain ranges, which border the Salinas Valley to the east and the west, respectively.
caption: Map of the Salinas River watershed.
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