West Highland 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 w ...

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 anch ...

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 C ...

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, a tributary of Highland Creek in the

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border ...

drainage basin 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 creek and its

tributaries 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 drainag ...

are entirely within the old City of

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

, and it provides the watershed for the northwest of the city.

Course

West Highland Creek begins in L'Amoreaux Park in Steeles neighbourhood, just west of Kennedy Road and north of McNicoll Avenue, at an elevation of . It flows southwest, under McNicoll Avenue into L'Amoreaux neighbourhood, exits the park and passes under Birchmount Road and

Finch Avenue Finch Avenue is an arterial thoroughfare that travels east–west in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The road continues west into the Regional Municipality of Peel as Regional Road 2 and east into the Regional Municipality of Durham as Regional ...

. Just south of Finch Avenue, West Highland Creek takes in a right tributary unnamed creek. The creek then turns south and takes in another right tributary unnamed creek. It then turns southeast into Tam O'Shanter-Sullivan neighbourhood, passes again under Birchmount Road and into Tam O'Shanter Golf Club. West Highland Creek flows under Kennedy Road into Agincourt South-Malvern West neighbourhood and under

Sheppard Avenue Sheppard Avenue is an east–west principal arterial road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The street has two distinct branches near its eastern end, with the original route being a collector road leading to Pickering via a turnoff, and the main ro ...

. It heads south under a grade-separated junction of a Canadian National Railway track (used by the

GO Transit GO Transit is a regional public transit system serving the Greater Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario, Canada. With its hub at Union Station in Toronto, GO Transit's green-and-white trains and buses serve a population of more than seven millio ...

Stouffville line) and a Canadian Pacific Railway mainline. The creek flows south under

Highway 401 King's Highway 401, commonly referred to as Highway 401 and also known by its official name as the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway or colloquially referred to as the four-oh-one, is a controlled-access 400-series highway in the Canadian provinc ...

, loops west then back east under the Canadian National line, and turns east at the

Scarborough RT Line 3 Scarborough (originally known as the Scarborough RT or SRT) is a light rapid transit line that is part of the Toronto subway system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The line runs entirely within the suburban district of Scarborough, encompas ...

line west of Midland Avenue. It passes under Midland into Bendale neighbourhood, then turns south under

Ellesmere Road Ellesmere ( ) may refer to: Places Australia * Ellesmere, Queensland, a locality in the South Burnett Region, Queensland * the former name of Scottsdale, Tasmania, Australia Canada * Ellesmere Island, an Arctic island of Canada and named f ...

into Birkdale Ravine Park. West Highland Creek then flows under Brimley Road into

Thomson Memorial Park Thomson Memorial Park is a midsize park at 1005 Brimley Road in the Scarborough district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the site of the Scarborough Historical Museum and includes historical houses from the 1790s that once belonged to the fou ...

, then under

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into Woburn neighbourhood and further under Lawrence Avenue. It takes in the right tributary Southwest Highland Creek at an elevation of , passes under Bellamy Road, and takes in an unnamed right tributary creek at an elevation of . The creek heads east through Cedarbrook Park, under

Markham Road 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 * ...

and into

Scarboro Golf and Country Club The Scarboro Golf and Country Club is a private club in eastern Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located in the former city of Scarborough. It has facilities for curling and an 18-hole golf course that is ranked among the top courses in Canada. The clu ...

. It then heads northeast into Highland Creek Park, takes in an unnamed left tributary creek arriving from Curran Hall Ravine, and passes back under Lawrence Avenue. Finally, West Highland Creek enters Morningside Park and reaches its mouth at Highland Creek at an elevation of .

Geology

The creek travels through a

glacial A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betwe ...

ravine formed after the last ice age.

Natural history

West Highland Creek is home to several species of fish including

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-salm ...

, carp, and bass.

Recreation

Lands adjacent to the creek provide significant recreational space for the centre of Scarborough. These are anchored by L'Amoureaux Park, one of the largest in Scarborough at and with major sports facilities, and

. There are also two golf courses: the private Scarboro Golf & Country Club, in area and opened in 1914, and the public Tam O'shanter. Cycling and walking trails line the entire course of the creek, with the exception of a central section around Highway 401 and on the private land of Scarboro Golf & Country Club.

Tributaries

*Southwest Highland Creek

References