Limestone Creek is long with a

drainage area A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, the ...

of , and is a tributary to the

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names, ...

. The river rises in Lincoln County, Tennessee, and flows south into Madison County, Alabama before flowing through Limestone County, Alabama, where most of the river's

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 ...

is located. In fact, Limestone Creek is where Limestone County gets its name. Limestone Creek terminates in the Tennessee River at Arrowhead Landing, which is the southeasternmost point of Limestone County's Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. The land within this watershed is predominantly agricultural, but has experienced significant recent residential growth from the city of

Huntsville Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in th ...

Biological diversity

Limestone Creek is a host to several species of fish, birds, and mammals. Fish species include '' Micropterus coosae'' (redeye bass), ''

Ambloplites rupestris The rock bass (''Ambloplites rupestris''), also known as the rock perch, goggle-eye, red eye, and black perch, is a freshwater fish native to east-central North America. This red eyed creature is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish fa ...

'' (rock bass), several species of ''

Lepomis ''Lepomis'' or true sunfish is a genus of North American freshwater fish from the family Centrarchidae in the order Perciformes (perch-like fish). The generic name ''Lepomis'' derives from the Greek ("scale") and ("cover", "plug", " operculu ...

'' (sunfish), ''

Ictalurus punctatus The channel catfish (''Ictalurus punctatus'') is North America's most numerous catfish species. It is the official fish of Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Tennessee, and is informally referred to as a "channel cat". In the United States, th ...

'' (channel catfish), and ''

Perca flavescens The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch, American river perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Samu ...

'' (yellow perch). Sightings of

great blue heron The great blue heron (''Ardea herodias'') is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North America and Central America, as well as the Caribbean and the Galápagos ...

are common. Multiple sightings of the American alligator (''

Alligator mississippiensis The American alligator (''Alligator mississippiensis''), sometimes referred to colloquially as a gator or common alligator, is a large crocodilian reptile native to the Southeastern United States. It is one of the two extant species in the gen ...

'') have been reported, especially near the mouth of the river in Limestone Bay, which is the confluence of Limestone Creek with the Tennessee River. There is evidence of beaver presence in the area where Limestone Creek first enters Limestone County and squirrels are abundant near the banks.

References

USGS Gauge Site Data
{{authority control Rivers of Alabama Rivers of Tennessee Rivers of Madison County, Alabama Rivers of Limestone County, Alabama Huntsville-Decatur, AL Combined Statistical Area Rivers of Lincoln County, Tennessee

Biological diversity

See also

References