Cherry Creek in Denver in 2003

Cherry Creek's location in the western part of the Missouri River watershed, highlighted in light blue

Cherry Creek is a tributary of the South Platte River, 64 mi (103 km) long, in Colorado in the United States. Image File history File links Cherry_Creek_Denver. ... Image File history File links Cherry_Creek_Denver. ... This article refers to the state capital of Colorado. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Cherry Creek in Colorado © 2004 Matthew Trump File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Cherry Creek in Colorado © 2004 Matthew Trump File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The Missouri River is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the United States. ... A watershed is a region of land where water drains downhill into a specified body of water, such as a river, lake, sea, ocean or wetland. ... The South Platte River in Denver, Colorado The South Platte River is one of the two principal tributaries of the Platte River and itself a major river of the American West, located in the U.S. states of Colorado and Nebraska. ... State nickname: The Centennial State Official languages English Capital Denver Largest city Denver Governor Bill Owens (R) Senators Wayne Allard (R) Ken Salazar (D) Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 8th 269,837 km² 0. ...

It rises in the high plateau, east of the Front Range, in northwestern El Paso County. It flows north, through Castlewood Canyon State Park, past Parker and through portions of Centennial and Aurora, and into southeast Denver. It flows northwest through Denver, becoming an urban stream and joining the South Platte at Confluence Park in central Denver just west of downtown and approximately 5 mi (8 km) east of the foothills, near the site where the city of Denver was founded in 1858. In geology and earth science, a plateau (also tableland, plâteau) is an area of highland, usually consisting of relatively flat open country if the uplift was recent in geologic history. ... The Front Range is shown highlighted on a map of the western United States The Front Range is a mountain range in the United States on the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains, and on the western edge of the Great Plains. ... El Paso County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. ... Parker is a town located in Douglas County, Colorado. ... Centennial is a city located in Arapahoe County, Colorado. ... Aurora is a city full of pussies divided between Arapahoe County and Adams County in Colorado, with a small portion lying in Douglas County. ... Denver skyline, 1999. ... Confluence Park is a park encompassing the intersection of Cherry Creek and the South Platte River in Denvers Lower Downtown (LoDo), a bustling neighborhood of 19th-century brick warehouses and storefronts that has been redeveloped since the late 1980s into one of Denvers most vibrant and active regions. ... 1858 is a common year starting on Friday. ...

The 140 ft (43 m) high Cherry Creek Dam, completed 1950, forms Cherry Creek Reservoir in Cherry Creek State Park, providing flood control and irrigation. The dam lies immediately southeast and southwest of the Denver and Aurora city limits, respectively, approximately 8 mi (13 km) from the creek's confluence with the South Platte. Look up Flood in Wiktionary, the free dictionary A flood (in Old English flod, a word common to Teutonic languages; compare German Flut, Dutch vloed from the same root as is seen in flow, float) is an overflow of water, an expanse of water submerging land, a deluge. ... High-altitude aerial view of irrigation in the Heart of the Sahara Irrigation (in agriculture) is the replacement or supplementation of rainfall with water from another source in order to grow crops. ...

The creek lends its name to a commercial district in southeast Denver, and in particular to the Cherry Creek Shopping Center and to a prominent newspaper, the Cherry Creek News.

The creek itself is locally well known for its population of crayfish. Some local inhabitants catch and eat these crustaceans, though this is of questionable legality. The creek is also home to a large population of small fish (Including immature trout and sunfish). Large fish are largely absent, except when the Cherry Creek Dam is partially opened and floodwaters carry fish such as rainbow trout, brown trout, mature sunfish, and even northern pike downstream. The creek's ecosystem was damaged during a drought in the first few years of the 21st century. Plants along the banks, damaged by the drought, dropped organic debris into the water, increasing biochemical oxygen demand substantially. Decreased flow also limited the ecosystem's capacity to supply needed oxygen. Decreased flow also prevented the washing away of pollutants such as NPK fertilizers, insecticides and organic solvents. Water temperatures also rose during this period, compounding the problem. As of 2005, however, the creek is substantially healthier. Families Astacoidea   Astacidae   Cambaridae Parastacoidea   Parastacidae Crayfish, sometimes called crawfish, lobsters, crawdads, mudbugs, carmels, yabbies, or spoondogs, are freshwater crustaceans resembling small lobsters, to which they are closely related. ... Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) Biwa trout (Oncorhynchus masou subsp) Trout is the common name given to a number of species of freshwater fishes belonging to the salmon family, Salmonidae. ... Several kinds of things are named sunfish (or sun-fish): A brand of sailboat Various fishes: Marine fishes: The ocean sunfish (Mola mola) Opah (family Lampridae; two species) The moonfishes of genus Selene (order Perciformes) The African pompano (Alectis ciliaris) (order Perciformes) The spotted eagle ray (Aetobatus narinari), a ray... Binomial name Oncorhynchus mykiss Walbaum, 1792 The rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss, a. ... Binomial name Salmo trutta Linnaeus, 1758 Subspecies Salmo trutta fario Salmo trutta trutta The Brown Trout (Salmo trutta fario) and the Sea Trout (Salmo trutta trutta) are fish distinguished chiefly by the fact that the Brown Trout is largely a freshwater fish, while the Sea Trout shows anadromous reproduction, spawning... In ecology, biochemical (biological) oxygen demand (BOD) is an indicator for the concentration of biodegradable organic matter present in a sample of water. ... National Presto Industries is a company from Wisconsin publicy traded on the NYSE and in the appliances industry. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

For some of its distance, notably in the region of Four Mile Historical Park, the creek is flanked on each side by approximately 15 m (50 ft) of woods and scrub. This corridor is deliberately left semi-wild, though there is a dirt bike track on the northern bank. This corridor is one of the few places within the Denver metro area where the creek's namesake plant, the chokecherry, can still be seen in a largely wild state. Large trees such as cottonwoods are common, as are willows. Edible plants such as wild asparagus and prickly pear are occasionally found. Imported plants such as the Russian olive, dandelion, and Virginia creeper are also notably present. Despite the limited area this corridor offers, raccoons, beaver, foxes, and even deer are not uncommom sights along the creek. The beaver typically have lodges upstream (east) of Denver, but swim downstream to forage. Binomial name Prunus virginiana The Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) is a species of bird cherry (Prunus subgenus Padus) native to North America, where it is found almost throughout the continent except for the deep south and the far north. ... Species Populus deltoides L. Populus fremontii [[]] Populus nigra L. The cottonwoods are three species of poplars in the section Aegiros of the genus Populus, native to North America, Europe and western Asia. ... Species About 350, including: Salix acutifolia - Violet Willow Salix alaxensis - Alaska Willow Salix alba - White Willow Salix alpina - Alpine Willow Salix amygdaloides - Peachleaf Willow Salix arbuscula - Mountain Willow Salix arbusculoides - Littletree Willow Salix arctica - Arctic Willow Salix atrocinerea Salix aurita - Eared Willow Salix babylonica - Peking Willow Salix barrattiana - Barratts... Binomial name Asparagus officinalis L. Asparagus is the name of a vegetable obtained from one species within the genus Asparagus, specifically the young shoots of Asparagus officinalis. ... Species Many, see text Opuntia is a genus in the cactus family Cactaceae. ... Species See text Dandelion (Taraxacum) is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. ... Binomial name Parthenocissus quinquefolia (L.) Planch, Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) is a woody vine native to the East Coast of the United States and Canada. ... For the animated television series see The Raccoons Binomial name Procyon lotor (Linnaeus, 1758) The Common Raccoon (Procyon lotor), often just called the Raccoon, is a mammal native to America. ... Species C. canadensis C. fiber Beavers are semi-aquatic rodents native to North America and Europe. ... A fox is a member of any of 27 species of small omnivorous canids. ... Subfamilies Capreolinae Cervinae Hydropotinae Muntiacinae A deer is a ruminant mammal belonging to the family Cervidae. ...

Petrified wood is extremely common in the creek. It is washed down, sometimes in fairly large pieces, from 'petrified forests' upstream. Fossil mammal bones have also been found. Petrified log at the Petrified Forest National Park A petrified tree from California Petrified wood is a type of fossil, in which the tissues of a dead plant are replaced with minerals (most often a silicate, such as quartz). ...

Historical records kept at what is now Four Mile Historical Park indicate that prior to the construction of the Cherry Creek Dam, the creek's water level rose and fell regularly. Since the dam's completion, however, this flood cycle has been interrupted. Now, the flow is regulated almost exclusively by the dam's operators. The level of the creek is kept constant except when water needs to be vented from the Cherry Creek Reservoir. When the dam's floodgates are opened for this venting, the creek's level may rise as much as two feet, sometimes in less than an hour. Look up Flood in Wiktionary, the free dictionary A flood (in Old English flod, a word common to Teutonic languages; compare German Flut, Dutch vloed from the same root as is seen in flow, float) is an overflow of water, an expanse of water submerging land, a deluge. ...

See also

• List of Colorado rivers