Bell 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 drainag ...

of Pine Creek in

Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Luzerne County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and is water. It is Northeastern Pennsylvania's second-largest county ...

, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Fairmount Township and Huntington Township. The creek is a freestone stream in the ridge and valley physiographic province. Wild trout naturally reproduce within the creek. It has one named tributary, which is known as Ashs West Branch, and two unnamed tributaries.

Course

Bell Creek begins on the border between Sugarloaf Township, Columbia County and Fairmount Township, Luzerne County. It flows east into Fairmount Township for a short distance before gradually turning southeast. After several tenths of a mile, the creek passes through Fairmount Springs and shortly afterwards turns south. Several tenths of a mile further downstream, it turns south-southeast for a few miles, entering Huntington Township and receiving its only named tributary, Ashs West Branch, from the

right Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical th ...

. The creek then turns east for a few tenths of a mile before reaching its confluence with Pine Creek.

Tributaries

Bell Creek has one named tributary, which is known as Ashs West Branch. That tributary is approximately long. Bell Creek also has two unnamed tributaries, both of which enter it from the right.

Geography and geology

The elevation near the

mouth In animal anatomy, the mouth, also known as the oral cavity, or in Latin cavum oris, is the opening through which many animals take in food and issue vocal sounds. It is also the cavity lying at the upper end of the alimentary canal, bounded on t ...

of Bell Creek is above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...

. The elevation near the creek's source is between above sea level. Bell Creek is in the

ridge and valley The Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, also called the Ridge and Valley Province or the Valley and Ridge Appalachians, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian division and are also a belt within the Appalachian Mountains extending ...

phyoigraphic province. The creek is a

freestone stream In fly fishing, a freestone stream flows seasonally, based on the water supply. In the summer and fall, freestone streams grow warm and have reduced flow because water from snow melt is less readily available. In contrast to limestone streams, which ...

Watershed

The mouth of Bell Creek is in the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

quadrangle of Stillwater. However, its source is in the quadrangle of Red Rock.

History

Bell Creek was entered into the

Geographic Names Information System The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories, Antarctica, and the associated states of ...

on August 2, 1979. Its identifier in the Geographic Names Information System is 1169145. A

stone arch An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side. A viaduct (a ...

bridge across Bell Creek in Huntington Township was proposed in 1901. It was to be located near J.T. Hess and would cost $250. A similar bridge over the creek in the same township was also proposed nearly two years earlier, in 1899. However, this bridge was to cost $700.

Biology

Wild

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', '' Salmo'' and '' Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-sa ...

naturally reproduce in Bell Creek from its headwaters downstream to its mouth. They also do so in the tributary Ashs West Branch.

References

{{authority control Rivers of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Tributaries of Fishing Creek (North Branch Susquehanna River) Rivers of Pennsylvania