Bear Creek is a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

of the

Tahltan River The Tahltan River is a tributary of the Stikine River in northwest part of the province of British Columbia, Canada. It flows generally east and southeast about Length measured using Google Maps path tool, BCGNIS coordinates, topographic maps, anTo ...

in northwest part of the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It flows generally south through the

Nahlin Plateau The Nahlin Plateau is a plateau in northwestern British Columbia, Canada, located between the Sheslay River and Tuya River on the west and east and the Nahlin River and the Stikine River to the north and south. It is a subplateau of the Stikine Pl ...

about Length measured using Google Maps path tool, BCGNIS coordinates, topographic maps, an
Toporama
/ref> to join the Tahltan River just downstream from the Tahltan and

Little Tahltan River The Little Tahltan River is a stream in the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It drains a significant section of the southwest quadrant of Level Mountain, from which it flows southeast into the Tahltan River. The Little Tahltan River ...

confluence. Bear Creek's

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

covers , and its mean annual

discharge Discharge may refer to Expel or let go * Discharge, the act of firing a gun * Discharge, or termination of employment, the end of an employee's duration with an employer * Military discharge, the release of a member of the armed forces from serv ...

is an estimated . The mouth of the Bear Creek is located about north of

Telegraph Creek Telegraph Creek is a small community located off Highway 37 in northern British Columbia at the confluence of the Stikine River and Telegraph Creek. The only permanent settlement on the Stikine River, it is home to approximately 250 members of Tah ...

, British Columbia, about east of

Juneau, Alaska The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( ; tli, Dzánti K'ihéeni ), is the capital city of the state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a unified municipality and the se ...

, and about southeast of

Whitehorse Whitehorse () is the capital of Yukon, and the largest city in Northern Canada. It was incorporated in 1950 and is located at kilometre 1426 (Historic Mile 918) on the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon. Whitehorse's downtown and Riverdale areas ...

, Yukon. Bear Creek's watershed's

land cover Land cover is the physical material at the surface of Earth. Land covers include grass, asphalt, trees, bare ground, water, etc. Earth cover is the expression used by ecologist Frederick Edward Clements that has its closest modern equivalent being ...

is classified as 35.9%

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It m ...

, 19.1%

conifer forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

, 16.5%

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of t ...

, 13.9%

mixed forest Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest is a temperate climate terrestrial habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature, with broadleaf tree ecoregions, and with conifer and broadleaf tree mixed coniferous forest ecoregions. These for ...

, 13.3%

barren Barren primarily refers to a state of barrenness (infertility) Barren may also refer to: Places * Barren, Missouri *Barren County, Kentucky * Barren Island (Andaman Islands) *Barren Island, Brooklyn *Barren River Lake Other uses * ''Barren Count ...

, and small amounts of other cover. Bear Creek is in the traditional territory of the

Tahltan The Tahltan or Nahani are a First Nations people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group who live in northern British Columbia around Telegraph Creek, Dease Lake, and Iskut. The Tahltan constitute the fourth division of the ''Nahane' ...

people.

Geography

Bear Creek originates on the south flank of the massive

Level Mountain Level Mountain is a large volcanic complex in the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It is located north-northwest of Telegraph Creek and west of Dease Lake on the Nahlin Plateau. With a maximum elevation of , it is the second-hig ...

shield volcano A shield volcano is a type of volcano named for its low profile, resembling a warrior's shield lying on the ground. It is formed by the eruption of highly fluid (low viscosity) lava, which travels farther and forms thinner flows than the more v ...

, about south of

Meszah Peak Meszah Peak is a volcanic cone located north of Telegraph Creek and southwest of Zus Mountain in British Columbia, Canada. It is the highest peak of the Level Mountain Range, a cluster of bare peaks on the summit of the massive Level Mountain ...

, the highest peak of the

Level Mountain Range The Level Mountain Range is a small but prominent mountain range occupying the broad summit of Level Mountain in northern British Columbia, Canada. Located between the Tuya River in the east and the Sheslay River in the west, it represents a hig ...

, a cluster of bare peaks on the summit of Level Mountain. The creek flows south through Level Mountain's high and relatively barren

lava plateau A volcanic plateau is a plateau produced by volcanism, volcanic activity. There are two main types: lava plateaus and pyroclastic plateaus. Lava plateau Lava plateaus are formed by highly fluid basaltic lava during numerous successive erup ...

. After about Bear Creek enters a steep canyon carved into the

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''escar ...

on Level Mountain's southern edge. Shortly after this the creek is joined by several significant but unnamed tributaries that also flow south from Level Mountain's high lava plateau. These tributaries have also carved steep gorges into Level Mountain's southern escarpment. Below the escarpment the landscape is dominated by coniferous forests. Bear Creek continues south, collecting several more unnamed tributaries, until it reaches the Tahltan River about a kilometre east of the Little Tahltan confluence and the

Indian reserve In Canada, an Indian reserve (french: réserve indienne) is specified by the '' Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." Ind ...

of "Tahltan Forks 5" of the

Tahltan First Nation The Tahltan First Nation, also known as the Tahltan Indian Band, is a band government of the Tahltan people. Their main community and reserves are located at Telegraph Creek, British Columbia. Their language is the Tahltan language, which is an A ...

References

External links

* {{cite book , last= Saint Cyr , first= Arthur , url= https://books.google.com/books?id=qxolAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA10-PA99 , title= Sessional Papers of the Dominion of Canada, Volume 10; Volume 32, Issue 10 , chapter= Report of Arthur Saint Cyr, D.L.S. — Exploration of the Country Between the Stikine River and the Mouth of the Teslin River , publisher= Government of Canada , date= 1899 , pages= 99–127 Cassiar Land District Level Mountain Nahlin Plateau Rivers of British Columbia Stikine Country Tahltan

Geography

See also

References

External links