West Highland Creek is a river

River

A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

 in Scarborough

Scarborough, Ontario

Scarborough is a dissolved municipality within the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Geographically, it comprises the eastern part of Toronto. It is bordered on the south by Lake Ontario, on the west by Victoria Park Avenue, on the north by Steeles Avenue East, and on the east by the Rouge River...

, part of Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, a tributary of Highland Creek

Highland Creek (Toronto)

Highland Creek is a river in the Scarborough district of Toronto, Ontario, emptying into Lake Ontario at the eastern end of the Scarborough Bluffs. It is home to several species of fish including trout, carp, and bass. It is a meandering river which, like most rivers in Toronto , travels through a...

 in the Lake Ontario

Lake Ontario

Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...

 drainage basin

Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

. The creek and its tributaries are entirely within the old City of Scarborough, 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 185 metres (607 ft). It flows southwest, under McNicoll Avenue into L'Amoreaux neighbourhood

L'Amoreaux

L'Amoreaux is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated east of Victoria Park Avenue, south of McNicoll Avenue, west of Kennedy Road and north of Huntingwood Drive. L'Amoreaux is named after Josue L'Amoreaux , a French Huguenot loyalist who settled in the area...

, exits the park and passes under Birchmount Road and Finch Avenue

Finch Avenue

Finch Avenue is an arterial thoroughfare and concession road which travels east–west through the city of Toronto. The road also has short extensions into Peel and Durham Regions as Peel Regional Road 2 and Durham Regional Road 37.-History:...

. 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

Tam O'Shanter-Sullivan

Tam O'Shanter–Sullivan is a neighbourhood in the east end of the city of Toronto, in the district of Scarborough. The neighbourhood is bordered by Huntingwood Drive to the North, Kennedy Road to the East, Highway 401 to the South and Victoria Park to the West...

, 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

Sheppard Avenue is an east-west principal arterial road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. A small portion of a continuation of the road in Pickering, Ontario is also called Sheppard Avenue.-History:...

. It heads south under a grade-separated

Grade separation

Grade separation is the method of aligning a junction of two or more transport axes at different heights so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other transit routes when they cross each other. The composition of such transport axes does not have to be uniform; it can consist of a...

 junction of a Canadian National Railway

Canadian National Railway

The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....

 track (used by the GO Transit

GO Transit

GO Transit is an inter-regional public transit system in Southern Ontario, Canada. It primarily serves the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area conurbation, with operations extending to several communities beyond the GTHA proper in the Greater Golden Horseshoe...

 Stouffville line) and a Canadian Pacific Railway

Canadian Pacific Railway

The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...

 mainline. The creek flows south under Highway 401

Highway 401 (Ontario)

King's Highway 401, also known by its official name as the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway and colloquially as the four-oh-one, is a 400-Series Highway in the Canadian province of Ontario stretching from Windsor to the Quebec border...

, loops west then back east under the Canadian National line, and turns east at the Scarborough RT line west of Midland Avenue. It passes under Midland into Bendale neighbourhood

Bendale

Bendale, also called Cedarbrae, is a neighbourhood in the eastern part of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in Scarborough. The area is ethnically diverse, like much of Toronto, but has a greater proportion of South Asian population, especially Tamils....

, then turns south under Ellesmere Road into Birkdale Ravine Park.

West Highland Creek then flows under Brimley Road

Brimley Road

Brimley Road is a north-south street in Scarborough and York Region, Ontario, Canada. The road carries 32000 vehicles daily as of May 2007 and is classified as a major arterial road by the city of Toronto....

 into Thomson Memorial Park

Thomson Memorial Park

Thomson Memorial Park is a mid size park in Scarborough, Ontario, and is the site of the Scarborough Historical Museum and includes historical houses of the founding family of the former city, the Thomson's, from the 1790s; more Thomson houses are found on the northern edge of the park on St....

, then under McCowan Road into Woburn neighbourhood

Woburn, Toronto

Woburn, also known as Cedarbrae, is a neighbourhood located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in the district of Scarborough.-Geography:Woburn is bordered by Highway 401 to the north, Scarborough Golf Club Road and Orton Park Road to the east, the CN Railway tracks to the south, and McCowan Road and...

 and further under Lawrence Avenue

Lawrence Avenue

Lawrence Avenue is a major east-west thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is divided into east and west portions by Yonge Street, the dividing line of east-west streets in Toronto....

. It takes in the right tributary Southwest Highland Creek at an elevation of 138 metres (453 ft), passes under Bellamy Road, and takes in an unnamed right tributary creek at an elevation of 136 metres (446 ft). The creek heads east through Cedarbrook Park, under Markham Road and into Scarborough Golf and Country Club. 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

Morningside Park (Toronto)

Morningside Park is a regional park located in Scarborough, Toronto. The park occupies most of the deep valley of Highland Creek where it borders the communities of West Hill and Highland Creek. Spanning , the park includes picnic areas, public washrooms, parking and footpaths which connect to...

 and reaches its mouth at Highland Creek at an elevation of 99 metres (325 ft).

Geology

The creek travels through a glacial

Glacier

A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...

 ravine formed after the last Ice Age

Ice age

An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...

.

Natural history

West Highland Creek is home to several species of fish including trout

Trout

Trout is the name for a number of species of freshwater and saltwater fish belonging to the Salmoninae subfamily of the family Salmonidae. Salmon belong to the same family as trout. Most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water...

, carp

Carp

Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. The cypriniformes are traditionally grouped with the Characiformes, Siluriformes and Gymnotiformes to create the superorder Ostariophysi, since these groups have certain...

, and bass

Bass (fish)

Bass is a name shared by many different species of popular gamefish. The term encompasses both freshwater and marine species. All belong to the large order Perciformes, or perch-like fishes, and in fact the word bass comes from Middle English bars, meaning "perch."-Types of basses:*The temperate...

.

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 145.3 acres (58.8 ha) and with major sports facilities, and Thomson Memorial Park

Thomson Memorial Park

Thomson Memorial Park is a mid size park in Scarborough, Ontario, and is the site of the Scarborough Historical Museum and includes historical houses of the founding family of the former city, the Thomson's, from the 1790s; more Thomson houses are found on the northern edge of the park on St....

. There are also two golf courses: the private Scarboro Golf & Country Club, 144 acres (58 ha) 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.