SALADO CREEK (Williamson County). Salado Creek originates five miles west of Jarrell in northwest Williamson County (at 30°50' N, 97°42' W). The stream is formed by the convergence of North Salado Creek, which rises a mile northeast of Florence (at 30°51' N, 97°47' W) and flows for six miles, and South Salado Creek, which is 10½ miles in length and rises three miles west of Florence (at 30°52' N, 97°49' W). Salado Creek proper, which is intermittent in its upper reaches, flows northeast for 21½ miles, through Williamson and Bell counties, to its mouth on the Lampasas River, six miles northeast of Salado in Bell County (at 30°59' N, 97°25' W). Early settlers drew on the rich creek bottom as an important source of timber, and the banks of the stream are still heavily wooded in places with mesquite, oak, and juniper trees. The creek flows through gently sloping terrain surfaced by loamy and stony soils used predominantly as rangeland.