The upper half of Banklick Creek is home to many species of fish including smallmouth bass, sunfish, suckers, carp, and catfish, as well as crayfish, turtles, snakes, and frogs.
In the 1970s, the creek, as it bordered the park, was unintentionally contaminated by a local manufacturing concern, with a number of toxic substances that found their way into the streambed.
This led to an extensive clean-up effort by both private and public sources, including the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
Though Banklick Creek is home to numerous species of flora and fauna, it is seldom fished or used for recreation, save at its most western reaches.
The creek is popular with both fossil and artifact seekers, and in 2001 a flint paleo spear point dating to c. 11,000 BC was discovered in a silty gravel outcropping, near Latonia.