Bowmanville Creek (French: ruisseau Bowmanville) is a stream in the municipality of Clarington, Regional Municipality of Durham in south-central Ontario, Canada. It flows from the Oak Ridges Moraine to Lake Ontario at Bowmanville.^[3][1][6][7] The creek is under the auspices of the Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority.^[5]

Quick Facts Bowmanville Creek ruisseau Bowmanville, Location ...

Bowmanville Creek ruisseau Bowmanville
Creek in Bowmanville, 2023.
Location of the mouth of Bowmanville Creek in Southern Ontario
Location
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
Regional Municipality	Durham
Municipality	Clarington
Physical characteristics
Source	Confluence of three unnamed streams
• location	Enfield
• coordinates	44°01′25″N 78°49′50″W[1]
• elevation	255[2]
Mouth	Lake Ontario
• location	Bowmanville
• coordinates	43°53′16″N 78°39′51″W[3]
• elevation	74.1 m (243 ft)[4]
Basin size	170 km2 (66 sq mi)[5]
Basin features
Progression	Lake Ontario→ Saint Lawrence River→ Gulf of Saint Lawrence
River system	Lake Ontario drainage basin
Tributaries
• left	Soper Creek

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The headwaters of Bowmanville Creek border the headwaters of Oshawa Creek (to the west) and those of its left tributary Soper Creek (to the east), the headwaters of all of which are in the Oak Ridges Moraine. Between the mouths at Lake Ontario of Oshawa Creek (to the west) and Bowmanville Creek there are five smaller creeks (from west to east): Farewell Creek, Robinson Creek, Tooley Creek, Darlington Creek and Westside Creek.^[5][6] The next named watercourse to the east is Wilmot Creek.^[6]

The area of the drainage basin of Bowmanville Creek is about 170 square kilometres (66 sq mi); almost all of the drainage basin is within Clarington, with the exception of a small part of the headwaters which are in the township municipality of Scugog to the north.^[5]

Bowmanville Creek begins at the confluence of three unnamed streams near the settlement of Enfield at an elevation of 255 metres (837 ft).^[2] It flows southeast then turns south near the settlement of Enniskillen, flows under Ontario Highway 407 and reaches the settlement of Hampton. It continues south into the community of Bowmanville, flows under Ontario Highway 401, takes in the left tributary Soper Creek, and reaches its mouth at Port Darlington on Lake Ontario at an elevation of 74.1 metres (243 ft).^[4][5][6][8]

Bowmanville Creek has been dammed in several places. About one kilometre north of Lake Ontario is the former Goodyear dam, originally built to provide electricity for a factory. This dam was a barrier to fish migration, and until the construction of a fish ladder trout and salmon were lifted over the dam by volunteers and conservation workers.^[9][10] A little further north, in what is now downtown Bowmanville, a dam provided water power for the Vanstone Mill until it was washed out in a storm in 1986.^[11]

• An early dam that was washed out at the Vanstone Mill circa 1890
• Site of another dam, now Salmon ladder at former Goodyear Factory