Courtois Creek

Courtois Creek (locally /ˈkoʊtəweɪ/) is a 38.6-mile-long (62.1 km)[4] stream in southern Missouri, United States. It shares its name with the nearby town of Courtois and is in the Courtois Hills region of the Missouri Ozarks. According to the information in the Ramsay Place Names File at the University of Missouri, the creek was "doubtless named for some French settler, but his identity has not been ascertained".[5]

Courtois Creek
Location
CountryUnited States
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationnear Viburnum, Missouri
 • coordinates37°41′02″N 91°00′41″W[1]
 • elevation1280 ft [2]
Mouth 
 • location
Huzzah Creek
 • coordinates
38°01′36″N 91°12′43″W[1]
 • elevation
636 ft[1]
Length38.6 miles (62.1 km)
Basin size222 sq mi (570 km2)[3]
Discharge 
 • average250–500 cu ft/s (7.1–14.2 m3/s)

The stream arises in the Mark Twain National Forest in northern Iron County, just north of Missouri Route 32 about four miles east of Bixby, and flows northward, passing about four miles east of Viburnum. The stream enters the southwest corner of Washington County, flows past Courtois and on north through the Mark Twain National Forest, entering Crawford County just south of Berryman and passing under Missouri Route 8 just west of that village. It flows on northwest through the Missouri Ozarks of Crawford County, roughly paralleling the course of Huzzah Creek to its west. It flows into Huzzah Creek just before the latter's confluence with the Meramec River, near the Crawford County Highway E bridge just east of Scotia.[5][6]

The creek is popular year-round for canoeing, kayaking, and rafting. It is surrounded by dense stands of trees and native vegetation, has abundant fish, turtles and waterfowl, and is the best-protected stream in the area against erosion.[7] The St. Louis Riverfront Times cited the creek as the best local float trip in 2007.[8]

References
  1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Courtois Creek
  2. Viburnum East, MO, 7.5 Minute Toporaphic Quadrangle, USGS, 1967 (1981 rev.)
  3. "Upper Meramec Section: Courtois Creek Watershed" (PDF). The Meramec River Basin Almanac. East-West Gateway Council of Governments. p. 13. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-26. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  4. U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map Archived 2012-04-05 at WebCite, accessed May 13, 2011
  5. "Iron County Place Names, 1928–1945". The State Historical Society of Missouri. Retrieved 2014-10-06.
  6. Missouri Atlas & Gazetteer, DeLorme, 1998, First edition, pp. 47, 48 and 56 ISBN 0-89933-224-2
  7. "Meramec River Watershed Habitat Conditions" (PDF). Missouri Department of Conservation. p. HC4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-06. Retrieved 2014-10-06.
  8. "RFT Best Of: Best Float Trip". Riverfront Times. Retrieved 2007-01-10.
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