Tinker's Creek, in Cuyahoga,

Summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topography, topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used ...

and

Portage Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...

counties, is the largest

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

Cuyahoga River The Cuyahoga River ( , or ) is a river located in Northeast Ohio that bisects the City of Cleveland and feeds into Lake Erie. As Cleveland emerged as a major manufacturing center, the river became heavily affected by industrial pollution, so mu ...

, providing about a third of its flow into

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...

History

Tinker's Creek was named after Captain Joseph Tinker, the principal boatsman of

Moses Cleaveland Moses Cleaveland (January 29, 1754 – November 16, 1806) was an American lawyer, politician, soldier, and surveyor from Connecticut who founded the city of Cleveland, Ohio, while surveying the Connecticut Western Reserve in 1796. During the Ame ...

's survey crew, who died in a boating accident while returning to New England in the fall of 1797.

Tinker's Creek Gorge

Thousands of years ago, when the

Wisconsinian Glaciation 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 Cor ...

retreated, dips and valleys like Tinker's Creek Gorge Elevation: were created due to erosion in the underlying shale. The awesome, severely sloped gorge sculpted by Tinker's Creek became a National Natural Landmark in 1967. A raised viewpoint over the gorge is easily accessible from the Gorge Parkway in the Cleveland Metroparks' Bedford Reservation. The stream is sometimes run in whitewater kayaks and is arguably the most challenging creek in the state of Ohio (when there is enough water to make it runnable).

Great Falls

The continuous downward flow of water erodes the underlying shale faster than the harder sandstone, causing sandstone outcropping collapses and features such as the 25-ft-high Great Falls of Tinker's Creek or Gates Mills Falls Elevation: , in

Bedford, Ohio Bedford is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States located to the east of Cleveland. The population was 13,074 at the 2010 census. It is an eastern first ring suburb of Cleveland. Geography Bedford is located at . It is a first ring subu ...

Tinker's Creek Aqueduct

Tinker's Creek Aqueduct Elevation: , on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

, was built to bridge the

Ohio and Erie Canal The Ohio and Erie Canal was a canal constructed during the 1820s and early 1830s in Ohio. It connected Akron with the Cuyahoga River near its outlet on Lake Erie in Cleveland, and a few years later, with the Ohio River near Portsmouth. It also ...

over Tinker's Creek near its confluence with the

. The aqueduct and surrounding area are subject to flooding by the

and Tinker's Creek.

Tinker's Creek Viaduct

Tinker's Creek Viaduct Elevation: , on the

, was a railroad trestle built to span Tinker's Creek near the Great Falls. A 510-foot-long stone archway was later built to channel the creek through the gorge, which was filled with landfill for the construction of a newer two-track railway. The top of the viaduct is still visible.

Watershed

Tinker's Creek is the largest tributary of the Cuyahoga River, the river which flows through Cleveland and into Lake Erie. Because of its glacial history, the course of the Cuyahoga River is unusual: it rises in Geauga County, Ohio, flows southward into the city of Akron, Ohio, and then abruptly turns northward and flows into Lake Erie. Its course is shaped like a reversed "J," and Tinker's Creek, entering from the east, drains almost all of the land nestled in the hook of the "J" that does not drain directly into the Cuyahoga. The creek itself rises near Tinker's Creek State Park in Streetsboro, Portage County. The creek then flows through Twinsburg Township and

Twinsburg Twinsburg is a suburban city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, located about halfway between Akron and Cleveland. The population was 19,248 as of the 2020 census. It is part of the Akron metropolitan area. History In 1817 Ethan Alling, then ...

in Summit County, and Glenwillow, Oakwood, Bedford Heights,

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

, and Walton Hills in Cuyahoga County before its confluence with the

in Valley View village near

Independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

. The 24 municipalities within the watershed are: Cuyahoga County * Beachwood *

* Bedford Heights * Glenwillow * Highland Heights * Maple Heights * North Randall * Oakwood *

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

Solon Solon ( grc-gre, Σόλων; BC) was an Athenian statesman, constitutional lawmaker and poet. He is remembered particularly for his efforts to legislate against political, economic and moral decline in Archaic Athens.Aristotle ''Politics'' ...

* Valley View * Walton Hills *

Warrensville Heights Warrensville Heights is a city located in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. It is an East Side suburb of Cleveland. The population was 13,789 at the 2020 U.S. Census. Geography Warrensville Heights is located at (41.438653, -81.523262). Ac ...

Geauga County * Bainbridge Township Portage County *

Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

* Franklin Township * Streetsboro * Sugar Bush Knolls Summit County *Hudson Village * Macedonia *

Northfield Northfield may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Northfield, Aberdeen, Scotland * Northfield, Edinburgh, Scotland * Northfield, Birmingham, England * Northfield (Kettering BC Ward), Northamptonshire, England United States * Northfield, Connec ...

* Reminderville *

* Twinsburg Township Organizations *Tinker's Creek Watershed Partners

Tributaries

Tinker's Creek has eight major tributaries and countless unnamed smaller tributaries. From the headwaters moving downstream, the major tributaries are: *Bell Run *Hudson Springs *Pond Brook *Beaver Meadow Run *Mud Creek *Hawthorne Creek *Deer Lick Run *Wood Run

Geology

The walls of the Tinker's Creek valley expose four geologic layers. The youngest sediments, unconsolidated glacial till deposited on top of bedrock by the retreat of the Wisconsin glaciation 12,000 years ago, occur in the upper portion of the watershed. These poorly sorted and poorly drained materials largely account for the marshes, swamps, bogs and fens that characterize the headwaters of the creek. Further downstream, at the Great Falls, the creek plunges over a cliff of Berea sandstone composed of tiny quartz crystals cemented with clay. Berea sandstone is about 330 million years old (Mississippian), and was generated by rivers bearing sand from higher ground to the east and north and depositing it in fan-shaped deltas in an ocean. These deltas eventually dried and were buried under subsequent sediments where they hardened into a layer of resistant rock.

Cleveland shale The Cleveland Shale, also referred to as the Cleveland Member, is a shale geologic formation in the eastern United States. Identification and name The Cleveland Shale was identified in 1870 and named for the city of Cleveland, Ohio. John Stro ...

(350 million years old; Devonian) underlies the sandstone. The shale is composed of extremely fine bits of quartz, clay and mica deposited at the edge of a sea. Ripple marks created by the sea's wave action are visible in the shale. The Cleveland shale is less resistant to erosion than the overlying Berea sandstone, so the creek was able to scour its impressive gorge once it had penetrated the sandstone cap—a process still occurring at the Great Falls. Downstream of the gorge, approaching the creek's confluence with the Cuyahoga River, the creek has begun to reveal

Chagrin Shale The Chagrin Shale is a shale geologic formation in the eastern United States that is approximately 365 million years old. The Chagrin Shale is a gray shale that begins thin and deep underground in north-central Ohio. As it proceeds east, the for ...

, bluish-gray and opaque, laid down 360 million years ago.

Water pollution

Tinker's Creek has substantial

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...

due to its industrial history.

Whitewater

Despite water pollution,

whitewater Whitewater forms in a rapid context, in particular, when a river's gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that froths, making the water appear opaque and ...

kayak A kayak is a small, narrow watercraft which is typically propelled by means of a double-bladed paddle. The word kayak originates from the Greenlandic word ''qajaq'' (). The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each se ...

ers consider it one of the most demanding and enjoyable streams in Ohio.

Notes

References

External links

Tinker's Creek Watershed PartnersAmerican Whitewater reach description
{{authority control Rivers of Ohio Cuyahoga River Rivers of Cuyahoga County, Ohio Rivers of Summit County, Ohio Rivers of Portage County, Ohio Tributaries of Lake Erie National Natural Landmarks in Ohio