About Tookany Creek

The Tookany Creek Parkway, which totals more than 130 acres, is a linear park straddling Tookany Creek. The Tookany Creek headwaters begin in the upper reaches of Abington Township and flow into Cheltenham Township in a north-to-south direction and bisecting the municipality. This creek is the main tributary of the Tookany Creek subwatershed, a 14.0 square mile drainage area that discharges into the Lower Delaware River Drainage Basin.

There are no permanently protected properties along the Tookany Creek; however, Ashbourne Country Club had been temporarily protected open space under Act 515 (Tookany Creek Trail Master Plan, prepared by Heritage Conservancy 12, 1999). This 100+ acre, site is adjacent to the Tookany Creek Parkway and the creek, thus enhancing the open space qualities

Diversity

The Tookany Creek Park system is unusually diverse. Within the park, there are several different types of environments, each harboring a distinct group of plants, as well as the birds and other animals that use them for food and shelter. These natural communities are focused on the stream bank (riparian zone) and extend into meadow and edge communities.

You can find the riparian zone along Tookany Creek in the lower level of the park. Storm water diverted to the creek has severely eroded its banks, creating a channel with very steep sides. The riparian zone in High School Park is found on these steep banks, and is home to a group of plants and animals which thrive along the water's edge.

The vegetation which grows along the creek's banks composes the riparian buffer and plays a vital role in helping to keep the water of the creek clean. By absorbing storm water and holding tight to the soil, they reduce storm water runoff, filter out pollutants, control erosion, and stabilize the creek's banks. Native plants, which are adapted to growing in the riparian zone, such as jewel weed and trees, withstand periodic flooding and wet soils.

These plants provide important wildlife habitat and offer shade that modulates the water temperatures for the sunfish that live in the creek. Northern brown water snakes, turtles, deer, beaver, and red-backed salamanders live here, along with birds.

Birds include: mallard ducks, red-tailed hawk, ruby throated humming bird, downy woodpecker, barn swallow, Carolina chickadee, Carolina wren, cedar waxwing, red-eyed vireo, American goldfinch, song sparrow, heron, and many more.