Forest trails and city sidewalks are great options for a family hike. But “creeking” can open a whole new world of exploring nature.

Creeks and streams support an amazing amount of plant and animal life, thanks to the combo of aquatic life and nearshore habitats. These diverse systems play a critical role in nature and are home to many threatened and endangered species.

"Think of the systems as being alive and stunning in many ways," says Mažeika Patricio Sulliván, director of the Baruch Institute of Coastal Ecology and a forestry and ecology professor at Clemson University. "The variety of organisms found in and near them will be disproportionally diverse compared to other systems in nature."

And that can provide