Hop Bottom Creek (also known as Hopbottom 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 Martins Creek in

Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania Susquehanna County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 38,434 Its county seat is Montrose. The county was created on February 21, 1810, from part ...

, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Bridgewater Township, New Milford Township, Brooklyn Township, Lathrop Township, and Hop Bottom. The watershed of the creek has an area of . The creek is not designated as an impaired waterbody. It is a relatively small stream with a deep valley. In its upper reaches it is approximately wide. The surficial geology in the creek's vicinity mainly consists of Wisconsinan Till, alluvium, bedrock, and wetlands. The watershed of Hop Bottom Creek is relatively long in a north–south direction and narrow in an east–west direction. The area in the vicinity of the creek was settled by 1787. The first

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...

in Susquehanna County was built on the creek. A number of bridges have also been constructed over it. The creek is not stocked with trout, but does have angling opportunities.

Course

Hop Bottom Creek begins in an unnamed lake near

Pennsylvania Route 706 Pennsylvania Route 706 (PA 706) is a state highway in Pennsylvania. The western terminus is at U.S. Route 6 in Pennsylvania, U.S. Route 6 (US 6) in Wyalusing, Pennsylvania, Wyalusing, and the eastern terminus is at U.S. Route 11 in Pennsylvania, ...

in Bridgewater Township. It flows south-southwest into Heart Lake, which is in both Bridgewater Township and New Milford Township. From the southern end of the lake, the creek flows west and then southwest in Bridgewater Township, entering Lake Chrisann after a few tenths of a mile. From the southern end of this lake, the creek flows south-southeast and then south-southwest for several tenths of a mile before turning west-southwest for a few tenths of a mile. It then turns in a south-southwesterly direction for more than a mile, approaching

Pennsylvania Route 167 Pennsylvania Route 167 (PA 167) is a state highway located in Susquehanna County in Pennsylvania. The southern terminus is at U.S. Route 11 (US 11) in Hop Bottom. The northern terminus is at the New York state border near Brackney. Route des ...

(which it crosses a number of times) and entering Brooklyn Township. After some distance in Brooklyn Township, the creek turns southeast for several tenths of a mile before turning south-southwest and then south-southwest. After some distance, the creek gradually begins meandering southwest for more than a mile before meandering south-southeast and southeast for a few miles, still flowing alongside Pennsylvania Route 167. The creek then turns south for more than a mile, entering Lathrop Township. Here, it turns southeast for several tenths of a mile, entering Hop Bottom and crossing Pennsylvania Route 167 for the last time. At this point, it turns east-northeast, reentering Lathrop Township and reaching its confluence with Martins Creek. Hop Bottom Creek joins Martins Creek upstream of its mouth.

Hydrology

Hop Bottom Creek is not designated as an impaired waterobdy. Between 1965 and 1969, the discharge of Hop Bottom Creek at Brooklyn ranged from during seven measurements, with an average of . The water temperature of the creek ranged from during six measurements. The creek's pH ranged from 6.5 to 7.5 and its

specific conductance Electrical resistivity (also called specific electrical resistance or volume resistivity) is a fundamental property of a material that measures how strongly it resists electric current. A low resistivity indicates a material that readily allow ...

ranged from 95 to 149 micro-siemens per centimeter. Between 1968 and 1969, the concentrations of

magnesium Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 of the periodic ta ...

and

calcium Calcium is a chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to ...

in the filtered waters of Hop Bottom Creek at Brooklyn ranged from and , respectively. Between 1965 and 1967, the concentration of

sodium Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na (from Latin ''natrium'') and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 of the periodic table. Its only stable iso ...

ranged from . Between 1965 and 1969, the concentration of

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide (chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is transpar ...

in Hop Bottom Creek at Brooklyn ranged from and the

bicarbonate In inorganic chemistry, bicarbonate (IUPAC-recommended nomenclature: hydrogencarbonate) is an intermediate form in the deprotonation of carbonic acid. It is a polyatomic anion with the chemical formula . Bicarbonate serves a crucial biochemic ...

concentration ranged from . The concentration of

water hardness Hard water is water that has high mineral content (in contrast with "soft water"). Hard water is formed when water percolates through deposits of limestone, chalk or gypsum, which are largely made up of calcium and magnesium carbonates, bicarbo ...

in the creek ranged from . The

sulfate The sulfate or sulphate ion is a polyatomic anion with the empirical formula . Salts, acid derivatives, and peroxides of sulfate are widely used in industry. Sulfates occur widely in everyday life. Sulfates are salts of sulfuric acid and many ar ...

and

chloride The chloride ion is the anion (negatively charged ion) Cl−. It is formed when the element chlorine (a halogen) gains an electron or when a compound such as hydrogen chloride is dissolved in water or other polar solvents. Chloride salts ...

concentrations in the creek's filtered water ranged from and . The concentration of

nitrate Nitrate is a polyatomic ion A polyatomic ion, also known as a molecular ion, is a covalent bonded set of two or more atoms, or of a metal complex, that can be considered to behave as a single unit and that has a net charge that is not zer ...

in the creek's filtered waters ranged from .

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 ...

of Hop Bottom 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 standardised g ...

. The elevation of the creek's

source Source may refer to: Research * Historical document * Historical source * Source (intelligence) or sub source, typically a confidential provider of non open-source intelligence * Source (journalism), a person, publication, publishing institute o ...

is between above sea level. Hop Bottom Creek is a relatively small stream that meanders through a deep valley. In its upper reaches, it has a clean

channel Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...

. At the outlet of Heart Lake, the creek's channel is wide and deep. The headwaters of Hop Bottom Creek are in a beaded valley, with alternating broad and narrow segments. Wetlands or lakes sometimes occur in the broad parts. The

surficial geology Superficial deposits (or surficial deposits) refer to geological deposits typically of Quaternary age (less than 2.6 million years old). These geologically recent unconsolidated sediments may include stream channel and floodplain deposits, beach ...

along the lower reaches of Hop Bottom Creek mainly consists of

alluvium Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluv ...

. However, a

till image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...

known as

Wisconsinan Till The Wisconsin Glacial Episode, also called the Wisconsin glaciation, was the most recent glacial period of the North American ice sheet complex. This advance included the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, which nucleated in the northern North American Cord ...

is found nearby in larger areas, and some

bedrock In geology, bedrock is solid Rock (geology), rock that lies under loose material (regolith) within the crust (geology), crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet. Definition Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface mater ...

consisting of

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

and

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...

is also present. Additionally, there is one

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

patch nearby. The surficial geology in the creek's headwaters is fairly similar, but there is no alluvium above Lake Chrisann, only Wisconsinan Till.

Soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former te ...

s in the vicinity of Hop Bottom Creek include Wyalusing

silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension with water. Silt usually has a floury feel when ...

loam, Holly silt

loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–sil ...

, Wellsboro channery silt, and Lordstown and Oquaga stony silt loams. The first two of these are

hydric Hydric soil is soil which is permanently or seasonally saturated by water, resulting in anaerobic conditions, as found in wetlands. Overview Most soils are aerobic. This is important because plant roots respire (that is, they consume oxygen and ...

, the third is mostly non-hydric, and the fourth is non-hydric. A mitigation bank project on Hop Bottom Creek and some of its unnamed tributaries was proposed in 2015.

Oxbow __NOTOC__ An oxbow is a U-shaped metal pole (or larger wooden frame) that fits the underside and the sides of the neck of an ox or wikt:bullock, bullock. A bow pin holds it in place. The term "oxbow lake, oxbow" is widely used to refer to a U-sh ...

scars in the

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

of the creek indicate that the creek's channel has moved around its valley over time.

Watershed

The

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 ...

of Hop Bottom Creek has an area of . The mouth of the 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 Hop Bottom. However, its source is in the quadrangle of Montrose East. The creek's watershed is relatively long and narrow. It is in the vicinity of the watersheds of West Branch Meshoppen Creek, Horton Creek, Martins Creek, Salt Lick Creek, and Snake Creek. A lake known as Heart Lake is situated on Hop Bottom Creek. It has an area of and has no

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, a ...

. The creek's watershed is relatively sparsely populated. The designated use for Hop Bottom Creek is

aquatic life An aquatic ecosystem is an ecosystem formed by surrounding a body of water, in contrast to land-based terrestrial ecosystems. Aquatic ecosystems contain communities of organisms that are dependent on each other and on their environment. The two ...

. There is a

gauging station on the creek at Brooklyn. The portion of the creek's watershed that is upstream of this point has an area of . The valley of Hop Bottom Creek was cultivated by the early 1900s. There are active farming operations in the vicinity of the creek.

History

Hop Bottom 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 1177377. The creek is also known as Hopbottom Creek. This variant name appears in a 1981 highway map of Susquehanna County, created by the

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) oversees transportation issues in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The administrator of PennDOT is the Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation, currently Yassmin Gramian. Presently, Pe ...

. The creek is named for the wild

hops Hops are the flowers (also called seed cones or strobiles) of the hop plant ''Humulus lupulus'', a member of the Cannabaceae family of flowering plants. They are used primarily as a bittering, flavouring, and stability agent in beer, to whi ...

that historically grew within its valley. The creek's name has been described as "quaint". The community of Hop Bottom, which is located near Hop Bottom Creek, was established in 1787. The first

in Susquehanna County was constructed on Hop Bottom Creek. There was historically a cotton factory in the vicinity of the creek. A concrete tee beam bridge carrying Pennsylvania Route 167 over Hop Bottom Creek was built in Bridgewater Township in 1939 and is long. A steel stringer/multi-beam or girder bridge carrying State Route 2015 over Hop Bottom Creek was built in 1945 and was repaired in 1993. It is long and is in Brooklyn Township. A two-span concrete

tee beam A T-beam (or tee beam), used in construction, is a load-bearing structure of reinforced concrete, wood or metal, with a -shaped cross section. The top of the -shaped cross section serves as a flange or compression member in resisting compressiv ...

bridge carrying State Route 2024 over the creek was built in that township in 1947 and is long. A concrete culvert bridge carrying State Route 2015 over the creek was built in 1959 and repaired in 1998. It is in Bridgewater Township and is long. A two-span prestressed box beam or girders bridge carrying Pennsylvania Route 167 was constructed across the creek in 1961 in Brooklyn Township and is long. A prestressed box beam or girders bridge carrying

across the creek was built in Hop Bottom in 1962 and is long. A prestressed box beam or girders bridge carrying T554/Quicks Hill Road over the creek was built southeast of Brooklyn in 1969 and is long.

Biology

Hop Bottom Creek is designated as a Coldwater Fishery. Hop Bottom Creek was described as having "excellent" fishing opportunities in the Tunkhannock Creek Watershed Conservation Plan in 1998. However, the creek is not stocked with

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-salmoni ...

Eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

s have historically been observed in the creek. Historically, wild

grew on the banks of the creek near the community of Hop Bottom. One of the largest blocks of unfragmented forest is on the banks of the creek.

References

{{authority control Rivers of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania Tributaries of Tunkhannock Creek Rivers of Pennsylvania