Hugo’s contribution to the current weekly edition brought this question back to mind.
Here’s one that qualifies.
But what about this one ??
Or this one ??
For sure - NOT.
Where do you draw the line ??
John
Way I look at it.
If you can jump over it in places without getting your feet wet it is a small creek (burn)
If you can’t it is a river.
Tight Lines
Yup! Sounds right to me!
Personally, I’d call the first photo a small creek, the next two photos just creeks, and the last one a small river.
Of course, I base this on nothing more than that it makes sense to me. 
All “big” rivers and creeks are a bunch of “small” creeks laid side by side.
fishbum
Guess it depends on your bailiwick.
In looking at your pictures, the first one is a little larger than a small creek.
The next two I would classify as small rivers.
The third, well you stated that as it should be John.
I don’t know. If you fish a variety, as to size waters, the waters fished will become apparent to you as to size.
Of course, this is from the perspective of an eastern US fisherman.
Nice pics!
How about these?
Those are pretty creeks regardless of the size but it does depend on where you are from and how much beer has been consumed when telling the story about the fish and the size of the creek. My Mom lives less than 1/2 mile of the Mississippi River at New Orleans, everything else around here is small. Flying by helicopter to Ft. Bliss I saw streams in west Texas that would hardly qualify as a creek back home, called rivers. But they tell me you can step over the Mississippi up in Minnesota. Gore Creek in Vail is a Gold Medal Stream and I remember you can hop across lot of it pretty easily, I would rather fish it than the Mississippi, so I don’t think size matters much.
Here is the way I look at it; if you can float it, it is a river, if you can’t float it, it is a creek.
I figure if I can hop over it most places its a small creek. Otherwise, its a big creek, or a stream, etc. I’ve caught trout, no kidding, in a creek that was only a yard wide at the widest, and the trout were in a trough roughly a foot wide and a foot deep, the top of which was mostly hidden by grass. It meandered through a meadow, widened to about a yard wide and an inch deep as it passed through a campground and then dumped into a stream. People around the campground regularly stepped over it on their ways to and fro.
Cheers
The rod I use determines my definitions since I always use the longest rod I can get away with based on conditions.
If I am using a rod from 5’0" to 6’0’ it is a minuscule creek that is two feet across at most places. I fish a LOT of those kind of cricks.
If I am using a rod that is 6’6" to 7’0" it is a small creek that is 6 foot wide at most places.
7’6" to 8’0" and an occasional 8’6" rod get used on medium sized creeks that may be 20 feet or more across at many spots and the 9’0" rods are used on large streams & rivers.
My Tenkara rod confuses the issue a bit. 
In my mind, if it gives you that “cozy” feeling then it qualifies as a small stream.
For example: (unfortunately I’m not doing the fishing in any of these pictures)
A stream in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
A run on my home water.
Another nice little pool on my home water.
Little
Bob
Small creek:
Large creek:
To me, a small creek is one I can step or at least jump across …
Here’s my idea of a small creek ~
Wow, that’s some small creek, Dale! Beats mine. BTW, I use a 5 foot 3 wt. with a 6 wt. line. Reel short leader or just tie a tippet (2 level) to the flyline.
Godspeed,
Bob
Patrick McManus chimes in with this bit of clarity.
Me thinks Patrick carried that one a bit too far, a little long in the tooth. But cute.
Larry —sagefisher—