Burnt Bridge Creek is a

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...

flowing for most of its length within the city of

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

in the U.S. state of

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

. It begins as drainage from field ditches near the unincorporated community of Orchards, east of the city. The creek flows generally west to

Vancouver Lake Vancouver Lake is located just west of Vancouver, Washington, United States, north of the Columbia River and Portland, Oregon, south of Ridgefield, Washington, and the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. The lake is shallow, with a maximum depth ...

. The lake drains to

Lake River Lake River is a tributary, about long, of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington. River miles are marked and numbered on the relevant map quadrangles: Vancouver, Ridgefield, and St. Helens. It flows north from Vancouver Lake in Vancou ...

, which empties into the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...

about downstream of the city. For its first , the creek follows a combination of natural and artificial channels, then continues along a small canyon for the rest of its course. The creek receives water from Cold Creek, its largest tributary, as well as Peterson Creek, Burton Channel, and an unnamed stream.

Watershed and water quality

Burnt Bridge Creek drains of mostly urban land. Only 4 percent of the basin is forested, whereas 23 percent is devoted to fields, pastures, and shrubland, and 73 percent has been developed for urban use. The water quality of surface streams in the basin range from "poor" to "very poor". Burnt Bridge Creek does not meet the

Washington Department of Ecology The Washington State Department of Ecology (sometimes referred to simply as "Ecology") is the state of Washington's environmental regulatory agency. Created in February 1970, it was the first environmental regulation agency in the U.S. predating ...

standards for

fecal coliform A fecal coliform (British: faecal coliform) is a facultatively anaerobic, rod-shaped, gram-negative, non-sporulating bacterium. Coliform bacteria generally originate in the intestines of warm-blooded animals. Fecal coliforms are capable of growth ...

bacteria, temperature, acidity, and levels of dissolved oxygen. Despite the degraded habitat, the lowermost part of the creek supports

coho salmon The coho salmon (''Oncorhynchus kisutch;'' Karuk: achvuun) is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family and one of the five Pacific salmon species. Coho salmon are also known as silver salmon or "silvers". The scientific species name i ...

rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called "steelhead trout") is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coasta ...

and steelhead are also present.

Recreation

The mixed-use Burnt Bridge Creek Greenway Trail runs along the creek through the middle of Vancouver. The hard-surface path is used for walking, biking, and jogging, and offers opportunities for wildlife viewing. The trail begins at Stewart Glen, a city park, and passes through Leverich Park, another city park. Both parks have picnic areas, restrooms, and other amenities.

References

{{authority control Rivers of Clark County, Washington Rivers of Washington (state)

Watershed and water quality

Recreation

See also

References