Friends of Big Creek

About Big Creek Watershed

The Big Creek watershed drains nearly 40 square miles. It comprises southwest Cleveland, Brooklyn, Linndale, Parma, Parma Heights, Brook Park, and North Royalton.

Watershed map

Denison Aveue and Triskett Road bound Big Creek roughly on the north, I-71 on the west and State Road on the east. The southern boundary slopes in a rough diagonal line running from near Snow Road near I-71 to Pleasant Valley Road between West 130th and York to Wallings Road near State Road.

New:

Conceptual Plans for Proposed Trail Alignments

Friends Of Big Creek Water Quality 2007 Test Data [pdf].
J. Gazda and, A. Penko.

The Big Creek Chronicles: Historical Notes & Articles

What is a watershed?

A watershed or drainage basin is an area of land that drains precipitation (rain & snowmelt) into a particular body of water—a stream, river, lake or ocean. Water can flow directly or go through smaller tributaries first, so that within each large watershed there are many smaller watersheds. No matter where you live you are in a watershed. Watersheds are influenced by climate, topography, geology, vegetation and land use.

A watershed is not only a drainage area — it's where we live, where we work, where our children go to school and where we play.

SITES FOR MORE INFO

EcoCity Cleveland: Smart Growth: Big Creek: An urban tributary on the mend

Cuyahoga County Planning Commission: Cuyahoga Valley Initiative: Waterways

NOACA:

Lower Big Creek Valley Study: Land Use, Environmental and Transportation Conditions in the Lower Big Creek Area of Cleveland, Ohio: An Assessment and Strategy for Future Action
Comprehensive planning effort in the Lower Big Creek Valley area in the City of Cleveland east of Ridge Road and south of the I-71 Corridor to the Cuyahoga River focusing on the valley east of Pearl Road and the upland neighborhoods of Old Brooklyn and Brooklyn Center. Includes environmental, land use, transportation, and recreational and economic development elements. Principal author: John Beeker, PhD.

Environmental Documents for Download

Lower Big Creek Valley Study - Phase 1 Report, December 2002 (32.4MB pdf - 228 pages)

State of Big Creek Report, April, 2001 (278K pdf- 26 pages)

Aerial photos of Lower Big Creek:

(choose larger view pdfs: View 1, View 2, View 3, View 4)
Note: the free Adobe Reader is needed to view pdf files

Aerial: Big Creek from Metroparks Zoo east to Cuyahoga River

Aerial: Big Creek from Brooklyn east to Metroparks Zoo

Aerial: Big Creek north course through Brooklyn with Stickney Creek

Aerial: Big Creek from Big Creek Reservation south into Brooklyn