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.
Fossils The Chagrin Shale exposed by Euclid Creek contains many different arthropod fossils, including Camarotoechia, Lingula, Nucleata, Orbiculoidea, and five species of Echinocaris. A lone fossil of a decapod, Palaeopalaemon, and indeterminate fragments of the crustacean Mesothyra, have also been found. In 1960, a new species of lobe-finned fish, Chagrinia enodis, was found eroded out of the Chagrin Shale in the Euclid Creek Reservation.
The Cleveland Shale along Euclid Creek is known to contain limited fossil remains. Fragments of what may be the plant Sporangites have been identified. Brachiopod fossils by be found in some places in the formation's topmost layers. These are generally Lingula and Orbiculoidea, although on very rare occasions other species may be found. Another fossil, once believed to be the arthropod Spathiocaris but in 2017 reinterpreted to be an ammonoid aptychus, may also be found. Fossil fish teeth, scales, and sometimes bones or armor are the most frequent fossils found. A review in 2008 identified 65 vertebrate taxa, represented primarily by Chondrichthyes (32 species), Placodermi (28 species), and Osteichthyes (five species).
Where exposed by Euclid Creek, the Bedford Shale usually contains an extensive fossil record in its bottommost part. These include brachiopods like Lingula, Orbiculoidea, and the large Syringothyris bedfordensis; mollusks, particularly bivalves; and Devonian fish.
Main Branch
The Geographic Names Information System of the United States Geological Survey places the headwaters of the main/west branch of Euclid Creek between Fairmount Blvd. and Fairwood Court in Beachwood, Ohio (). The Division of Surface Water of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency places the headwaters roughly to the north, on the Acacia Reservation of the Cleveland Metroparks in Lyndhurst, Ohio (). Both are at an elevation of above mean sea level. This is an area of hummocks and knolls with soil that ranges from poorly drained to moderately well drained. Soil permeability is slow to moderately slow.
The main branch of Euclid Creek gently meanders over a nearly level plateau through the cities of Lyndhurst, Mayfield Heights, Richmond Heights, South Euclid, and Euclid. Soil permeability improves in Richmond Heights, South Euclid, and Euclid, ranging from moderately slow to moderately rapid. After passing down the Portage Escarpment, the stream flows across the loamy, fine-sand, lacustrine sediment of the Erie Plain. Here the soil is moderately well drained and rapidly permeable. Much of the main branch's streambed was determined by the Wisconsin glaciation.
The main branch passes through some of the most densely urbanized land in Cuyahoga County. There is little remaining floodplain or intact stream banks. Poor soil permeability for much of the stream's length and the extensive impervious surfaces of the urban landscape contribute to flash flood-like stream flows. These flows inhibit the quantity and diversity of fish and aquatic insect populations.
Where it drops over the Portage Escarpment, the main branch has carved a long gorge. At the head (south end) of the gorge, at what is now the intersection of E. Green Road and Anderson Road, the stream tumbles over a waterfall. The gorge is to deep and an average of wide. Euclid Creek meanders across the flat bottom of the gorge, where it has carved a channel deep into the alluvial soil and the shale rock. Although the depth of Euclid Creek in the gorge is usually no more than ankle- to knee-deep, the stream has eroded a few deep potholes in the shale streambed, some up to deep.
Emerging from this gorge about where Euclid Avenue and Chardon Road meet today, the creek meanders across the Erie Plain, a relatively flat area with low, rolling hills. It has carved a channel wide and deep in the Erie Plain.
The mouth of Euclid Creek is located on Lake Erie at , above mean sea level.
East Branch The headwaters of the east branch of Euclid Creek are located near Interstate 271, about south of 32500 Chardon Road in Willoughby Hills, Ohio (). The elevation at these headwaters is about above mean sea level. The east branch joins the main/west branch of the stream in the Euclid Creek Reservation of the Cleveland Metroparks about south-southeast of the intersection of Highland Road and Metropark Drive (). The elevation at the confluence of the two branches is about .
From its headwaters, the east branch flows mostly along an east-west roughly paralleling the Portage Escarpment in a deep ravine. Although the stream banks are nearly all intact and the ravine eliminates any chance for a floodplain, nearly all the tributaries of the east branch have been channelized, culvertized, and lost their floodplain due to urban development.
Watershed
The Euclid Creek watershed is almost unique among Ohio streams in that it contains no agricultural land and is more than 80 percent developed. The undeveloped land is projected to become built up within the next few decades by light industrial, office, residential, and retail construction. Residential development is likely to be apartment buildings or clustered townhouses, keeping with a national trend away from single-family homes. This will put new pressure on the water quality of Euclid Creek. Cuyahoga County Airport is the largest landowner within the watershed. Six east branch tributaries travel through, under, or adjacent to the airport's .
About of Euclid Creek's watershed is protected. This includes the of the Lower Euclid Creek Reservation and of the Euclid Creek Reservation. The combined reservation is one of the most heavily used parks in the Cleveland Metroparks system. Weekend use in the summer routinely exceeds park capacity, causing compaction of soil, litter, and illegal dumping. The Cuyahoga Soil and Water Conservation District owns two conservation easements (totaling ) covering the headwaters of Euclid Creek in Lyndhurst and Mayfield. The city of Richmond Heights owns a conservation easement over the ravine and wetlands of Verbsky Creek, and has imposed an environmental deed restriction over Claribel Creek between Richmond Heights City Hall and Richmond Heights Community Park.
Few wetlands remain in the Euclid Creek watershed. Notable wetlands exist adjacent to Highland Heights Community Park, at the headwaters of a major tributary of the east branch; the Acacia Reservation; and portions of the floodplain of the east branch. The health of these wetlands is not known.
Subwatersheds The stream's watershed has seven distinctive subwatersheds. These are: