German Mills Creek is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

in the municipalities of

Markham Markham may refer to: It may also refer to brand of of clothing which originates from South Africa which saw it's establishment in 1873. Biology * Markham's storm-petrel (''Oceanodroma markhami''), a seabird species found in Chile and Colombia * ...

, Richmond Hill,

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

and

Vaughan Vaughan () (2021 population 323,103) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Regional Municipality of York, just north of Toronto. Vaughan was the fastest-growing municipality in Canada between 1996 and 2006 with its population increas ...

in the

Greater Toronto Area The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the City of Toronto and the regional municipalities of Durham, Halton, Peel, and York. In total, the region contains 25 urban, suburban, and rural municipalities. The Greater T ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. It is part of the

Great Lakes Basin The Great Lakes Basin consists of the Great Lakes and the surrounding lands of the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin in the United States, and the province of Ontario in Canada, whose dir ...

and is a left tributary of the East Branch

Don River The Don ( rus, Дон, p=don) is the fifth-longest river in Europe. Flowing from Central Russia to the Sea of Azov in Southern Russia, it is one of Russia's largest rivers and played an important role for traders from the Byzantine Empire. Its ...

. It originates in Vaughan (near Bathurst Street and the King–Vaughan Town Line), flows south through Richmond Hill and Markham, and empties into the East Branch Don River in the East Don Parklands in Toronto, south of

Steeles Avenue Steeles Avenue is an east–west street that forms the northern city limit of Toronto and the southern limit of Regional Municipality of York, York Region in Ontario, Canada. It stretches across the western and central Greater Toronto Area from ...

between

Bayview Avenue Bayview Avenue is a major north–south route in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario. North of Toronto, in York Region, Bayview is designated as York Regional Road 34. History Bayview Avenue follows the first concession line, laid east of Yong ...

and

Leslie Street Leslie may refer to: * Leslie (name), a name and list of people with the given name or surname, including fictional characters Families * Clan Leslie, a Scottish clan with the motto "grip fast" * Leslie (Russian nobility), a Russian noble famil ...

. It is part of a number of streams, swamps and

swale Swale or Swales may refer to: Topography * Swale (landform), a low tract of land ** Bioswale, landform designed to remove silt and pollution ** Swales, found in the formation of Hummocky cross-stratification Geography * River Swale, in North ...

s located near the

Oak Ridges Moraine The Oak Ridges Moraine is an ecologically important geological landform in the Mixedwood Plains of south-central Ontario, Canada. The moraine covers a geographic area of between Caledon and Rice Lake, near Peterborough. One of the most signif ...

. The creek's approximate length is . It is named after the pioneer settlement German Mills, founded by

William Berczy William von Moll Berczy (December 10, 1744 – February 5, 1813) was a German-born Upper Canada pioneer and painter. He is considered one of the co-founders of the Town of York, Upper Canada, now Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Biography Berczy was ...

in 1796. The settlement disappeared after a few years, but the creek retained the name. The Richmond Hill portions of the river snake through residential development with a very narrow greenbelt on either side of the creek. The Markham sections run through a mix of residential, commercial and light industrial areas. Duncan Woods Creek is a small left tributary that flows northwest to German Mills Creek in Toronto, at the southeast corner of Steeles Avenue and Leslie Street. There are a few undeveloped portions along the creek, mostly as parks in Markham.

Parks

* German Mills Settlers Park, (26 hectare or 65 acre natural area park) * Wycliffe Park,

* German Mills Creek Channel Lands, Richmond Hill * German Mills Creek Park, Richmond Hill * Bestview Park Fitness Trail, Toronto * Bestview Park * East Donlands Park * Maple Valley Park * Valley View Park * Doncrest Valley * Langstaff Park * German Mills Trail * Toll Bar Park

Communities

* Elgin Mills, Richmond Hill * Hillsview, Richmond Hill * Langstaff, Richmond Hill * Doncrest, Richmond Hill * German Mills, Markham * Hillcrest Village, Toronto

Development

* Newark Industrial Park *

David Dunlap Observatory The David Dunlap Observatory (DDO) is an astronomical observatory site in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada. Established in 1935, it was owned and operated by the University of Toronto until 2008. It was then acquired by the city of Richmond Hill, ...

* Beaver Creek Business Park

Parks

Communities

Development

References

See also