Turlock

City in central California, in the San Joaquin Valley, 21 km/13 mi southeast of Modesto; population (1990) 42,200. It produces cattle, poultry, melons and other fruit, grain, hay, and vegetables.

Settled on the Central Pacific Railroad in the 1870s, it became an agricultural centre after the Turlock Irrigation District (begun 1877) drew on the waters of the Tuolumne River. A California State University campus (1957) is here.

Turlock Lake, to the northeast, is a 1,420-ha/3,500-acre reservoir fed by the Tuolumne River. The Turlock Lake State Recreation Area is on its north shore.