Euclid Creek is a long stream located in Cuyahoga and Lake counties in the state of Ohio in the United States. The long main branch runs from the Euclid Creek Reservation of the Cleveland Metroparks to Lake Erie. The west (also known as south) branch is usually considered part of the main branch, and extends another to the creek's headwaters in Beachwood, Ohio. The east branch runs for and has headwaters in Willoughby Hills, Ohio.
The stream has exposed geologic formations which proved of importance to science, and these formations proved economically important in the Cleveland, Ohio, area in the early and mid 1800s. Five major in-channel obstructions impair the stream, which runs through a heavily urbanized area east of Cleveland. Portions of the creek are culvertized and channelized, and the stream has been heavily polluted in the past. Although the level of pollution has lessened in the last 30 years, the fishery remains significantly impaired. The development of settlements along Euclid Creek is an important part of the history of the development of Cleveland's east side, and some of the major retail developments in the watershed in the past 60 years have impaired the stream.
Location and flows
Euclid Creek is a stream which originates in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. It flows through Cuyahoga County and a small portion of Lake County before emptying into Lake Erie. Euclid Creek is one of about 100 streams that drain directly into the lake. Doan Brook and Euclid Creek are the largest of the minor tributaries of Lake Erie.
The stream consists of a main branch, an east branch, and several named and unnamed tributaries. Many sources say that the main branch extends from the mouth of the stream about upstream, where an east branch and west (or south) branch meet. The watershed drained by this segment of the creek is about in size. However, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA) treats the main branch and west branch as a single main branch, which is the description used in this article. Upstream from the confluence of the two streams, the main/west branch extends for another and drains a watershed of about . The east branch is long and drains a watershed of about . The main branch and east branch (exclusive of tributaries) are a combined long, with a combined watershed approximately in size. More than 100 streams make up the headwaters of Euclid Creek.
The Euclid Creek watershed is one of the most highly urbanized areas of the Lake Erie coastline in Ohio. The watershed contains 11 cities, 10 of which are in Cuyahoga County. About 68,000 people live in the watershed.
Euclid Creek has an average grade of , or 1.04 percent, a very high gradient for a stream. The gradient varies from place to place along the creek. Near its headwaters, the grade is , while within the Euclid Reservation Metropark the grade increases to . In the lacustuary near its mouth, the grade is just .
Underlying geology
Euclid Creek flows over bedrock more than 360 million years old. This includes the 365 million year old Chagrin Shale, the 360 million year old Cleveland Shale, the 358.9 million year old Bedford Formation, the 360 million year old Berea Sandstone, and the 354.8 to 351.4 million year old Orangeville Shale of the Cuyahoga Formation. The Berea Sandstone is highly resistant to erosion, and the highest waterfalls on Euclid Creek occur where the stream has cut down to the Berea.
Topographically, the underlying geology creates three distinct areas: The Allegheny Plateau, the Portage Escarpment, and the Erie Plain. The headwaters of both the main and east branch are located on the Allegheny Plateau. The two streams descend over the steep terraces of the Portage Escarpment before reaching the relatively flat Erie Plain and draining into Lake Erie. The Late stage of the Wisconsin glaciation (the last ice age) began about 85,000 years ago, and in Ohio reached as far south as the Portage Escarpment before stopping. This ice sheet not only shaped the relief of the land—leaving behind low rounded hills, irregular plains, and depressions that turned into wetlands—but also left glacial till and erratics over most of the bedrock. A low morainic ridge, the Euclid Moraine, appears east of Euclid Creek. This morainic ridge extends to Willoughby, Ohio, from Euclid Creek. A portion of the east branch flows along the south edge of this moraine.