Pine Creek (Rush Creek tributary) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Pine Creek |
|
|---|---|
Section of Pine Creek
|
|
main section of Pine Creek showing tributaries
|
|
 Mouth of Pine Creek
|
|
| Countries | United States |
| States | Minnesota |
| Counties | Winona, Fillmore |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Main source | St. Charles Township, Winona County, Minnesota 43°56′40″N 91°54′18″W / 43.944427925898594°N 91.9049168509712°W |
| River mouth | Rushford, Minnesota 43°50′52″N 91°47′52″W / 43.8477416°N 91.7976499°W |
| Basin features | |
| River system | Rush Creek (Root River tributary) |
| Tributaries |
|
| Bridges | School Section Road and Rt. 25 bridges |
Pine Creek is a stream located in Fillmore and Winona counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It's like a smaller river that flows into a bigger one. Pine Creek flows into Rush Creek (Root River tributary), which then flows into the Root River. You can find where Pine Creek joins Rush Creek in the northern part of Rushford, Minnesota. Pine Creek also has its own smaller streams, called tributaries, which are Cooledge Creek and Hemmingway Creek.
Life in Pine Creek
Pine Creek winds its way through farms in southern Winona and northern Fillmore Counties. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has found many types of fish living here. These include different kinds of trout, like brown trout and brook trout. You can also find fish like white sucker, northern hog sucker, creek chub, and longnose dace. Other cool fish species include blacknose dace, fantail darter, slimy sculpin, mottled sculpin, and brook stickleback.
In August 2007, there was a big flood in Southeast Minnesota. This flood caused a lot of damage to the fish homes and the areas next to Pine Creek. But don't worry! In 2015, a group called Trout Unlimited helped fix up the fish habitat and the flooded areas along Pine Creek.
Where Pine Creek Flows
Pine Creek starts in St. Charles Township, right below Interstate 90. From there, it flows south into Fillmore County. Then, it turns north and runs east through Winona County, following Winona County Road 2. Finally, it meets up with Rush Creek north of Rushford, Minnesota.
A bridge was built over Pine Creek on School Section Road in 2002.
It's good to know that there are actually two streams named Pine Creek in Winona County! The one we're talking about here is west of State Highway 43. Sometimes people call it the Fillmore County Pine Creek. The other Pine Creek (Mississippi River tributary) is located in the eastern part of Winona County and Houston County.
Pine Creek's Smaller Streams
Pine Creek has two small tributaries: Coolridge Creek and Hemingway Creek. Coolridge Creek is about 1.23 miles long, and Hemingway Creek is about 2.19 miles long. Both of these smaller streams are home to many of the same fish species found in Pine Creek. These include brown trout, brook trout, creek chub, blacknose dace, longnose dace, central stoneroller, slimy sculpin, white sucker, and brook stickleback.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources did a study using Coolridge and Hemingway Creeks. They wanted to see how brown trout affect native brook trout. In Coolridge Creek, they kept brown trout out. But in Hemingway Creek, brown trout from Pine Creek were allowed to swim in naturally. The study found that brook trout in Coolridge Creek grew faster and survived better. However, the final size of the adult brook trout wasn't very different in either stream.
