Big Creek is a watercourse in Norfolk County, Ontario.[1] It is approximately 60 kilometres (37 mi) long. It empties into Lake Erie, at Port Rowan, at Long Point. Its watershed covers 730 square kilometres (280 sq mi), alternately 750 square kilometres (290 sq mi).[2][3]

The largest municipality it flows through is Delhi, Ontario.[4] North Creek joins it there.[3] Venison Creek joins downstream of Walsingham. The creek is the largest watershed in the Long Point Region. Small dams riddle the watershed. Three of the larger reservoirs are the Teeterville Reservoir on Big Creek, the Lehman Reservoir on North Creek, and the Deer Creek reservoir.

Eco-tourists visit the creek, including boating excursions, to sample its examples of Carolinian forest - rare for Ontario.[5]

Canoeing down Big Creek is generally done between May 15 and September 15. It takes 6 hours to canoe from the Langton area to the Long Point area.[6]

In 1986 the United Nations designated the Big Creek Marsh, at the mouth of Big Creek, forming the apex of Long Point, as forming the Long Point Biosphere Reserve.[7] Lake Erie has a clockwise current. Long Point formed when that current carried suspended sediment, that formed the sand spit that forms the spine of the peninsula. The east side of the spit was a natural, marshy, wetland, until the construction of the Long Point Causeway in 1927.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Our Watershed". Long Point Region Conservation Authority. Retrieved 2017-07-21.
  2. ↑ Water Quality of Long Point Bay: Issues and Areas of Concern for Planning and Management, Anne Marie Downey, Silvia Radovich and Patrick Lawrence
  3. 1 2 "Executive Summary: Long Point Conservation Area" (PDF). Long Point Conservation Area. January 2008. Retrieved 2018-12-12. Big Creek is the largest watershed in the Long Point Region with a total area of 750 square kilometres. The creek flows south through Delhi, where North Creek joins it. Venison Creek joins downstream of Walsingham before Big Creek enters Lake Erie near Port Rowan.
  4. ↑ "Big Creek Canoe Route 2010" (PDF). Long Point Region Conservation Authority. Retrieved 2017-07-21.
  5. ↑ John Kernaghan (2014-08-23). "Paddling down a lazy river — by kayak". Hamilton Spectator. Paris, Ontario. Retrieved 2018-12-11. It takes about 12 hours to travel the 40 kilometres of Big Creek, which passes through two conservation areas and the Big Creek Wildlife area near Port Rowan on Lake Erie.
  6. ↑ Big Creek Canoe Route at Nature's Calling
  7. ↑ Scott Gillingwater. "The Long Point Causeway: a history and future for reptiles" (PDF). Toronto Zoo. Retrieved 2018-12-12. One of the primary threats for reptiles, is the Causeway, a 3.5 km stretch of road bisecting the Big Creek National Wildlife Area and Long Point Bay.
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