Green Creek (Fishing Creek tributary)
Green Creek is a tributary of Fishing Creek in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately 12.7 miles (20.4 km) long and flows through Jackson Township, Greenwood Township, and Orange Township. The watershed of the creek has an area of 36.8 square miles (95 km2). Green Creek has three named tributaries: Little Green Creek, Rickard Hollow, and Mud Run. The creek is not designated as an impaired waterbody and is a relatively large stream, contributing a significant amount of water to Fishing Creek. A valley known as the Greenwood Valley is located in the vicinity of Green Creek. The creek's own valley was likely affected by glaciation during the Ice Age.
Green Creek | |
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the lower reaches of Green Creek in late spring | |
Etymology | named for the apparent color of its waters |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | |
• location | hill near Waller in Jackson Township, Columbia County, Pennsylvania |
• elevation | 1,246 ft (380 m) |
Mouth | |
• location | Fishing Creek in Orange Township, Pennsylvania |
• elevation | 561 ft (171 m) |
Length | 12.7 mi (20.4 km) |
Basin size | 36.8 sq mi (95 km2) |
Basin features | |
Progression | Fishing Creek → Susquehanna River → Chesapeake Bay |
Tributaries | |
• left | Rickard Hollow |
• right | Little Green Creek, Mud Run |
Soil erosion is a significant concern in some areas of the watershed of Green Creek, especially in the Greenwood Valley. A number of bridges have been constructed over the creek, including a covered bridge known as the Patterson Covered Bridge. Settlers arrived in the vicinity of the creek by the late 18th century and early 19th century, and a few mills of various were built on it in the 19th century. An Indian path also used to follow the creek for some distance.
The drainage basin of Green Creek is designated as a Trout Stocked Fishery and a Migratory Fishery. The creek itself contains brown trout. The creek has relatively narrow riparian buffers in some reaches. However, it has a hemlock-rich floodplain in Jackson Township.