| Wheeling Creek | |
| Map: | Wheeling Creek WV map.png |
| Map Size: | 300 |
| Pushpin Map Size: | 300 |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of the river mouth in West Virginia |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | United States |
| Subdivision Type2: | State |
| Subdivision Name2: | West Virginia |
| Subdivision Type3: | Counties |
| Subdivision Name3: | Marshall, Ohio |
| Length: | 25miles[1] |
| Discharge1 Location: | mouth |
| Discharge1 Avg: | 373.5cuft/s (estimate)[2] |
| Source1: | Enlow Fork |
| Source1 Location: | boundary of Greene and Washington Counties, Pennsylvania |
| Source1 Coordinates: | 40.0022°N -80.3408°W[3] |
| Source1 Elevation: | 1339feet[4] |
| Source2: | Dunkard Fork |
| Source2 Location: | Confluence of North Fork and South Fork, Richhill Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania |
| Source2 Coordinates: | 39.8925°N -80.4781°W[5] |
| Source2 Elevation: | 927feet |
| Source Confluence Location: | northeastern Marshall County near Majorsville, West Virginia |
| Source Confluence Coordinates: | 39.9542°N -80.5286°W |
| Source Confluence Elevation: | 829feet |
| Mouth: | Ohio River |
| Mouth Location: | Wheeling, West Virginia |
| Mouth Coordinates: | 40.0639°N -80.725°W |
| Mouth Elevation: | 630feet |
| Progression: | Ohio River → Mississippi River → Gulf of Mexico |
| Basin Size: | 300sqmiapprox.[6] |
| Tributaries Left: | Dunkard Fork Wolf Run Stull Run Burch Run Bald Eagle Hollow Hollidays Run Seabright Hollow Jakes Run |
| Tributaries Right: | Enlow Fork Turkey Run Bruce Run Cricket Hollow Grandstaff Run Britt Run Little Wheeling Creek Carter Run Long Run |
Wheeling Creek is a tributary of the Ohio River, 25miles long, in the northern panhandle of West Virginia, with a watershed extending into southwestern Pennsylvania. Via the Ohio River, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of approximately 300sqmi on the unglaciated portion of the Allegheny Plateau. It flows into the Ohio River in downtown Wheeling, just downstream of Ohio's Wheeling Creek on the opposite bank.[7] A variant name is Big Wheeling Creek.[1] According to the French explorer Pierre Joseph Céloron de Blainville, the native name of the stream is the Kanououara River, as was inscribed on the lead plate buried at the mouth by the Ohio River in 1749. [8]
See also: List of tributaries of Wheeling Creek. Wheeling Creek is formed in northeastern Marshall County, West Virginia, by the confluence of streams known as the Enlow Fork and the Dunkard Fork:
From the confluence of the Dunkard and Enlow forks, Wheeling Creek flows northwestwardly into the city of Wheeling in Ohio County. In the Elm Grove neighborhood of Wheeling, it collects Little Wheeling Creek,[12] which rises in Ohio County just west of the Pennsylvania state line and flows southwestwardly through the communities of Valley Grove and Triadelphia. In Triadelphia, Little Wheeling Creek collects Middle Wheeling Creek,[13] which rises in West Finley Township in Greene County, Pennsylvania, and flows generally westwardly into southeastern Ohio County.[7] [9]
The National Road (U.S. Route 40) parallels Little Wheeling Creek through eastern Ohio County, and follows Wheeling Creek for part of its route through the city of Wheeling;[7] the creek is also paralleled for 5miles in Wheeling by a rail trail as part of the Wheeling Heritage Trail network.[14]
According to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, of the 141sqmi drained by Wheeling Creek in West Virginia, approximately 67% is forested; approximately 27% is used for agriculture; and approximately 5% is urban.[15]
At its mouth, the estimated mean annual flow volume of Wheeling Creek is 373.5cuft/s.[2] The United States Geological Survey operates a stream gauge on the creek in the Elm Grove neighborhood of Wheeling, downstream of the mouth of Little Wheeling Creek and 7.8miles upstream of the creek's mouth. Between 1941 and 2005, the annual mean flow of the creek at the gauge was 343 cubic feet per second (9.7 m³/s). The creek's highest flow during the period was estimated at 22,300 ft³/s (632 m³/s) on September 17, 2004. The lowest recorded flow was 0.1 ft³/s (0 m³/s) on October 7, 1963, and on two days in September 1964.[6]
Wheeling Creek is a popular fishing destination to those close to it. There are many entry points located alongside the Wheeling Heritage Trail System. There are a variety of fish species including muskellunge, smallmouth bass, sunfish, hognose suckers, various species of catfish, and bluegill. Wheeling Creek is also regularly stocked with rainbow trout and brown trout.[16]