kids encyclopedia robot

Etobicoke Creek facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Quick facts for kids
Etobicoke Creek
Etobicoke Creek Toronto.jpg
Looking north up Etobicoke Creek from Lake Shore Boulevard
Etobicoke Creek is located in Toronto
Etobicoke Creek
Location of the mouth of the creek in Toronto
Country Canada
Province Ontario
Region Greater Toronto Area
Municipalities
Physical characteristics
Main source Caledon, Regional Municipality of Peel
300 m (980 ft)
43°47′19″N 79°53′39″W / 43.78861°N 79.89417°W / 43.78861; -79.89417
River mouth Lake Ontario
Marie Curtis Park, Toronto
74 m (243 ft)
43°35′05″N 79°32′28″W / 43.58472°N 79.54111°W / 43.58472; -79.54111
Length 61 km (38 mi)
Basin features
Basin size 211 km2 (81 sq mi)
Tributaries
  • Left:
    Spring Creek, Little Etobicoke Creek

Etobicoke Creek is a river in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada. It is a tributary of Lake Ontario and runs from Caledon to southern Etobicoke, part of the City of Toronto. The creek is within the jurisdiction of the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority.

Etymology

The name "Etobicoke" was derived from the Mississauga word wah-do-be-kang (wadoopikaang), meaning "place where the alders grow", which was used to describe the area between Etobicoke Creek and the Humber River. The first provincial land surveyor, Augustus Jones, also spelled it as "ato-be-coake". A letter from January 22, 1775 uses "Tobacock". Etobicoke was adopted as the official name of the township (later city, now part of the city of Toronto) in 1795 on the direction of Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe. The name for the waterway used in the Toronto Purchase treaty was Etobicoke River. Simcoe in a memo from April 5, 1796 refers to it as "Smith River or Etobicoke". In a letter dated April 9, 1796 he used "Tobicoke". (No reference appears for Smith but could be linked to Samuel Smith who would be granted land in Etobicoke and served with Simcoe in the Queen's Rangers.) Both "creek" and "river" appear in newspapers and books until about 1960. "Creek" was officially adopted by the Geographical Names Board of Canada on November 18, 1962, though it existed far earlier.

Course

DSC07374
Etobicoke Creek flowing into Lake Ontario, at Marie Curtis Park
DSC07377
Thawing Etobicoke Creek from Marie Curtis Park
Marie Curtis Park
The mouth of the Etobicoke Creek at the Marie Curtis Park

Etobicoke Creek begins south of the Oak Ridges Moraine and flows through Caledon, Brampton, and Mississauga — west of the Toronto Pearson International Airport and the surrounding industrial area — to its mouth at Lake Ontario in the Etobicoke portion of the city of Toronto. The length of the creek is 61 kilometres (38 mi).

Watershed

The creek's southern section forms a city and county-level boundary, separating Toronto on the east from Mississauga, in Peel Region, as far north as Eglinton Avenue (north of where it flows entirely through Peel), on the west. The watershed encompasses 211 square kilometres (81 sq mi). Mean summer waterflow has increased over the period 1967 to 2006 from 3.5 m3/s to 5.0 m3/s as recorded at a measuring station near the river mouth at the Queen Elizabeth Way.

The creek ends in a large recreational area, Marie Curtis Park. It is surrounded by cliffs and the bottom is solid stone, often covered with smaller rocks. It is full of small fish and crayfish, a sign of purity of water.

Geology

The creek is characterized by winding paths ravines and shale banks.

Neighbourhoods

  • Markland Wood is bounded by Etobicoke Creek to the west and Elmcrest (tributary) Creek to the east.
  • Alderwood is bounded by Etobicoke Creek to the west.
  • Long Branch is bounded on the west by Etobicoke Creek.

Tributaries

  • Spring Creek - begins from Etobicoke Creek northwest of airport northwards between Torbram and Kennedy to about Bovaird.
  • Little Etobicoke Creek
  • Elmcrest Creek - small tributary that begins from two ponds inside Etobicoke Centennial Park and flows into Etobicoke Creek in the south at the Markland Wood Golf Club.

Gallery

Images for kids

kids search engine
Etobicoke Creek Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.