Near its mouth, it runs into a gorge on the south side of the hill on which Fort Frederick lies.

Until the first VOC ships docked here in 1690, the creek was known by the Khoekhoe name from the Gonoqua tribe, Kragga Kamma (//Kraxa/kamma), 'the rocky creek (or //kara - meaning pebbles in the river and kamma being a corruption of the Khoe word //gami - meaning water)'.

Parks, sports grounds and hiking trails have been laid out in parts of the Baakens Valley.

In 1752, ensign August Frederik Beutler passed by and erected a beacon (baken in contemporary Dutch) on behalf of the VOC at the estuary.

On Sunday 1 September 1968, it started to rain just after 8am and within a short time more than 56 cm fell.