Etobicoke Creek

Etobicoke Creek
River
Looking north up Etobicoke Creek from Lake Shore Boulevard
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
Municipalities	Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Caledon
Tributaries
- left	Spring Creek, Little Etobicoke Creek
Source
- location	Caledon, Ontario, Canada
- elevation	300 m (984 ft)
- coordinates	43°47′19″N 79°53′39″W
Mouth	Lake Ontario
- location	Marie Curtis Park, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- elevation	75 m (246 ft)
- coordinates	43°35′04″N 79°32′28″W
Length	61 km (38 mi)
Basin	211 km2 (81 sq mi)

Etobicoke Creek ⁱ/ɛˈtoʊbɨkoʊ/ is one of the many creeks running through Toronto, Ontario and the Toronto Area into Lake Ontario, often characterized by their winding paths through deep ravines and distinctive shale banks.

Etobicoke Creek flows from Caledon, and runs in Brampton and west of the Toronto Pearson International Airport and the industrial area. Its southern section forms a city and county-level boundary, separating Toronto on the east from Mississauga, part of the Regional Municipality of Peel, on the west. Previously the eastern side was part of Etobicoke, which was part of Metropolitan Toronto. The length of the entire creek from Caledon to Lake Ontario is 61 kilometres (38 mi).

The creek ends in a large recreational area, Marie Curtis Park. It is surrounded by big cliffs and the bottom is solid stone, often covered with smaller rocks. It is full of little fish and crayfish, a sign of purity of water.

Aircraft accidents

A section of Etobicoke Creek runs close to Toronto's Pearson International Airport, leaving a ravine very close to the west ends of runways 24L and 24R or the beginnings of Runways 6R & 6L. There have been two major aircraft incidents which have resulted in aircraft in the ravine.

• On 26 June 1978, an Air Canada Douglas DC-9-32, Flight 189, with 107 people on board, overshot runway 24R and crashed into the ravine, destroying the aircraft and killing two of the passengers.

• On August 2, 2005, an Air France Airbus A340-300, Flight 358, with 309 people on board, overran runway 24L into the ravine, followed by a fire onboard. All people on board escaped safely but dozens were injured. One passenger, Roel Bramar, later commented, "We had a hell of a roller-coaster going down the ravine" [1]. Although it was widely reported the Air France plane landed in a heavily wooded area, those who travel the area frequently know this to be untrue as it is fairly wide open, due to airport maintenance of both sides of the ravine. The west side of the ravine is a gentle slope, with grass and the airports light towers for both 6R/6L

The position of the ravine so close to the airport's overrun area has raised some concerns among the general public [2], despite Toronto Pearson's compliance with all safety regulations. Work to fill the ravine or divert the creek would probably be very expensive and might face opposition from environmentalists. There are no known plans to make any landscaping changes.

Neighbourhoods

• Markland Wood is bounded by Etobicoke Creek to the west and Elmcrest/Renforth (tributary) Creek to the east.
• Long Branch is bounded on the west by Etobicoke Creek.

Tributaries

• Spring Creek
• Little Etobicoke Creek

See also

• List of creeks in Ontario

References

• "Topographic Map sheets 30M12 & 30M13". Atlas of Canada. Natural Resources Canada. 2006-02-06. http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/topo/map/. Retrieved 2009-02-14. 

External links

• Etobicoke Creek shale banks
• Marie Curtis Park
• Markland Wood - Residential Community
• Markland Wood Golf Club - Golf Course

• 

  Photo of the Etobicoke Creek flowing into Lake Ontario, in Toronto, Ontario at Marie Curtis Park.

• 

  Thawing Etobicoke Creek from Marie Curtis Park in Toronto, Ontario