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Map of Watershed Sample Sites [Popup PDF]
List of Watershed Sample Sites [Popup DOC]
 Named Streams
Cherry Creek
Municipalities in Watershed
- Smithfield Township
- Stroud Township
- Hamilton Township
- Delaware Water Gap Borough
Do you know?
The Cherry Creek watershed includes Mountain Run and a number of
unnamed tributaries that drain north from the Kittatinny Ridge and south
from Godfrey’s Ridge to Cherry Creek in the valley floor. The watershed
covers 30.5 square miles.
Cherry Creek is a second order valley stream
that originates above Twin Ponds just east of Route 33 and south of
Saylorsburg. The flow is substantially increased by large springs
located a short distance downstream from the pond outflow and above the
Cherry Valley Trout Hatchery. The creek meanders for approximately 15
miles through the narrow, steep-sided Cherry Valley, eventually emptying
into the Delaware River at Delaware Water Gap. The elevation change from
source to mouth is only about 370 feet.
Cherry Creek is classified
as a High Quality Coldwater Fishery according to the PA Department of
Environmental Protection. The creek supports a total of 15 fish species
including reproducing brown, brook and rainbow trout populations along its
entire length, with numbers decreasing from source to mouth. This is
likely due to a decline in habitat quality, perhaps because of warmer
water temperatures, and to the lack of pools, the scarcity of boulders and
cobbles and some sand-gravel deposits that cause low velocity flats.
The Pennsylvania American
Water Company is the largest landholder with 3370 acres near the creek
source which has 4 springs used as a backup water supply to nearby
communities. Laird Industries near the eastern terminus of the creek
is the single point source discharger. Two city wells serve about
300 Delaware Water Gap residents while most of the valley population
depends on private wells and septic systems. A winery, apiary,
several restaurants, two golf courses, individual homes and small
developments and number of active farms are the primary commercial
operations in the watershed.
The Cherry Valley substrate
is primarily gravel, sand and silt with scattered cobble and boulders
located in higher gradient riffle areas where scouring occurs. The
underlying geology is a complex of limestone, shale and siltstone overlain
with unconsolidated glacial deposits of silt, sand and gravel in the
valley. Because of the limestone formations, Cherry Creek has a much
higher pH, alkalinity and total dissolved solids than is found in most
Pocono area streams, which generally are acidic with a low mineral
content.
Riparian vegetation is well established and
stable, varying between trees that provide a thick canopy on the upper and
lower stream to woody bushes that create heavy bankside overhang,
especially in the mid-valley area.
Learn more about the Cherry Creek watershed - visit the Cherry Creek Streamwatch page
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Cherry Creek Subwatershed
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