Destination Clearwater: Stevenson's Creek

As a little girl I wasn't allowed to play in the creek behind our block like the other neighborhood kids did. My mom warned me of snakes and alligators and other icky, scary, bumpy creatures. It worked; I never played in .

I know now that "the creek" isn't a creek so much as a drainage ditch. Stevenson's Creek stretches from Largo into Dunedin, with most of the creek winding through west Clearwater.

The city's filled in much of the creek, opting for culverts that allow the water to travel underground. Some stretches, like the one bordering my parents’ block near Barry Street and Hillcrest Avenue remain uncovered. It's a favored dog walking spot, and, even though I don't see any today, I'm certain kids still walk the pipes cutting across the creek, balance beam style.

Today is just a walk. There are no grand experiences: no saurian giants lurk among the dense forest-green water taro, no snakes wind their way over the gnarled and twisted tree trunks abutting the pavement. The water gurgles over the sand and sediment at the creek bottom, the level so low it covers the higher mounds as lace rather than a blanket. Occasional orange blooms peek out of the groundcover on the level top side while random patches of greenery surge down the banks.

This is not a creek you swim in, or jump in, or paddle down. This is a creek that exists to keep homes dry, in many parts created or preserved through the wonders of cement and sandbags. Atop that cool creamy gray concrete, a small jungle has taken root between these homes. Fish swim the creek; birds pluck them them – along with speckled anoles that sun themselves on the pipes crossing the creek – from the silty buff bottom as snacks. Vines twist, plants submerge and spring up from the water, and trees crush against the road and support themselves with roots holding in the creek bank.

This is not a park; it is not a “designated wilderness area”; it is not an “eco-tour.” It is a creek, a patch of struggle between the first Florida and the one we created. It is a triumph of engineering over the environment, a conquering of nature that didn’t know it needed conquering. It is a wisp of what has happened in the Everglades. This is not a political issue: the neighbors accept that sometimes the creek floods and sometimes it doesn’t. They often bemoan the fenced and filled area of the creek north of this patch, a bit of grassy astro-nature created and walled off in an effort to fix the drainage issues. They do not argue about this; this is not the Everglades. This is not an entire ecosystem at stake.

No, this is a creek. And today? Today is just a walk.

For more information about the creek and the Stevenson's Creek watershed, visit the city's web site.