Watercress Creek Watershed

The Watercress Creek watershed is a small, unique area of land located within Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve in central Loudoun County, Virginia.  Banshee Reeks is Loudoun County’s only county owned nature preserve consisting of 695 acres of forest, succession fields, ponds and streams.  The park is bordered partially by Goose Creek to the south and west and Woods Road to the north and east.  Watercress Creek is a tributary of Goose Creek.


Portions of the Watercress Creek watershed have been identified as a Mountain/Piedmont basic seepage swamp by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).  The DCR sponsors a Natural Heritage Program that in conjunction with NatureServe works to identify, protect and preserve Virginia’s plant, animal life, and ecosystems.  The swamp in the Watercress Creek watershed is an area of unique biodiversity that has been identified by this program and receives attention through inventory, protection and stewardship.  The swamp is located between the Twin Springs and Watercress Creek trails and can be easily accessed on foot .  You can view the location of the trail on the Banshee Reeks Trail Map.


Map of Banshee Reeks showing the park boundary as well as the watershed contained within.


Mountain/Piedmont basic seepage swamps are characterized as rare ecological communities which begin from underground spring seeps and drain an area underlain with various types of mafic rocks and include granite, limestone and calcareous shale.  Swamps that are identified as basic originate primarily from ground water sources, those that are identified as alkaline have a metamorphic base.  Over 30 seepage depressions caused by underground springs have been mapped along the final 1/2 mile section of the stream before it empties into Goose Creek.  The depressions, combined with natural flooding and erosion exposes a stream bed that has many rocks.  Another feature of the seepage depressions is the clearly visible “mass wasting” that erodes the riparian zones along the stream with horseshoe shaped depressions in the landscape exposing tree roots and rocks.  These areas vary in size and depth, but most are anywhere from 1 - 4 feet deep in a gradual sloping area from 10 - 30 feet across.