Bell Creek (also known as Escorpión Creek) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed March 16, 2011

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

Los Angeles River , name_etymology = , image = File:Los Angeles River from Fletcher Drive Bridge 2019.jpg , image_caption = L.A. River from Fletcher Drive Bridge , image_size = 300 , map = LARmap.jpg , map_size ...

, in the

Simi Hills The Simi Hills are a low rocky mountain range of the Transverse Ranges in eastern Ventura County and western Los Angeles County, of southern California, United States. Geography The Simi Hills are aligned east-west and run for , and average arou ...

Ventura County Ventura County () is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura. Ventura County comprises the Oxnar ...

and the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...

and

City A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

, in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

. The

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...

marks the ''"headwaters"'' of the

, .t) and Bell Creek (right) join to form the

The initial

headwater The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source. Definition The ...

feeder-streams begin in the

from 90% of the

Rocketdyne Rocketdyne was an American rocket engine design and production company headquartered in Canoga Park, California, Canoga Park, in the western San Fernando Valley of suburban Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles, in southern California. The Rocke ...

Santa Susana Field Laboratory The Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL), formerly known as Rocketdyne, is a complex of industrial research and development facilities located on a portion of Southern California in an unincorporated area of Ventura County in the Simi Hills betw ...

(SSFL) property as its

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 ...

, leaving the site with

toxic substance A toxicant is any toxic substance, whether man-made or naturally occurring. By contrast, a toxin is a poison produced naturally by an organism (e.g. plant, animal, insect). The different types of toxicants can be found in the air, soil, water, or ...

s and

radionuclide A radionuclide (radioactive nuclide, radioisotope or radioactive isotope) is a nuclide that has excess nuclear energy, making it unstable. This excess energy can be used in one of three ways: emitted from the nucleus as gamma radiation; transfer ...

contamination via culvert outfalls,

aquifer An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing, permeable rock, rock fractures, or unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt). Groundwater from aquifers can be extracted using a water well. Aquifers vary greatly in their characterist ...

seeps A petroleum seep is a place where natural liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons escape to the earth's atmosphere and surface, normally under low pressure or flow. Seeps generally occur above either terrestrial or offshore petroleum accumulation stru ...

and springs, and

surface runoff Surface runoff (also known as overland flow) is the flow of water occurring on the ground surface when excess rainwater, stormwater, meltwater, or other sources, can no longer sufficiently rapidly infiltrate in the soil. This can occur when th ...

. It then flows as a

creek A creek in North America and elsewhere, such as Australia, is a stream that is usually smaller than a river. In the British Isles it is a small tidal inlet. Creek may also refer to: People * Creek people, also known as Muscogee, Native Americans ...

southeast through

Bell Canyon Bell Canyon is a major drainage of the Santa Ana Mountains in Orange County, California in the United States. Bell Creek (also known as Bell Canyon Creek or Arroyo de las Campanas) flows about in a southerly direction to its confluence with San ...

(the community and geographic feature),

Bell Canyon Park Bell Canyon Park is a large open-space regional park located in the Simi Hills at the western end of the San Fernando Valley in West Hills, Los Angeles and Bell Canyon, California. Bell Creek, a primary tributary to the Los Angeles River, flows ...

, and

El Escorpión Park El Escorpión Park is a three-acre (12,000 m²) park located in the Simi Hills of the western San Fernando Valley, in the West Hills district of Los Angeles, California. The park contains the geographic landmark known as Escorpión Peak or Castl ...

in a natural

stream bed A stream bed or streambed is the bottom of a stream or river (bathymetry) or the physical confine of the normal water flow (Channel (geography), channel). The lateral confines or channel margins are known as the stream Bank (geography), banks ...

. It then is altered to flow in a concrete channel. Moore Creek joins in from the west, and then it flows east, channelized through West Hills, where it is joined by the South Fork and South Branches of the same name and by Dayton Creek. Then on through

Canoga Park Canoga Park is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California. Before the Mexican–American War, the district was part of a rancho, and after the American victory it was converted into wheat farms and t ...

to join

Arroyo Calabasas Arroyo Calabasas (also known as Calabasas Creek) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed March 16, 2011 tributary of the Los Angeles River, in the southwestern San Fernando ...

(Calabasas Creek) and becoming the

. Bell Creek begins as a free-flowing stream until passing Escorpión Peak (Castle Peak) in Bell Canyon Park. At Bell Canyon Road and Elmsbury Lane it becomes encased in a

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...

flood control channel Flood control channels are large and empty basins which let water flow in and out (except during flooding) or dry channels that run below the street levels of some larger cities, so that if and when a flood occurs, the water will run into these ch ...

. It then passes under Valley Circle Boulevard, flowing just south of Highlander Road through former

Rancho El Escorpión Rancho El Escorpión was a Mexican land grant in present day Los Angeles County, California given in 1845 by Governor Pío Pico to three Chumash Native Americans - Odón Chijulla, Urbano, and Mañuel.

-current West Hills, and further eastward parallel to (and south of) Sherman Way in Canoga Park. There, it joins

, directly east of

Canoga Park High School Canoga Park High School is a high school located in Canoga Park in the western San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is in the Los Angeles Unified School District. It is located at the start of the L ...

beside Vanowen Street. The

marks the ''"headwaters"'' of the

, .

Crossings

From mouth to source (year built in parentheses):

Bell Creek

*Vassar Avenue/

edestrian Bridge*

California State Route 27 State Route 27, commonly known by its street name Topanga Canyon Boulevard (), is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs from the Pacific Coast Highway ( California State Route 1) at Topanga State Beach near Pacific Palisades ...

- North Topanga Canyon Boulevard (1949) *Glade Avenue edestrian Bridge*Shoup Avenue (1962) *Dayton Creek enters from north *Fallbrook Avenue (1963) *South Branch enters *Royer Avenue edestrian Bridge*South Fork enters *Platt Avenue (1961) *Moore Creek enters from west *Valley Circle Boulevard (1963) *Highlander Road (19__) *Bell Canyon Road (1969) *Buckskin Court (1969)

South Branch Bell Creek

*Vanowen Street (1949)

South Fork Bell Creek

*Vanowen Street (1958) *Haynes Street edestrian Bridge, Closed*Victory Boulevard (1959) *Platt Avenue (1959) *Peterson Avenue (1961)

References

External links