It is a very straight, narrow gorge about 50 to 100 feet (15 to 30 m) deep that contains part of the lower segment of Cedar Creek, the largest tributary of the St. Joseph River.
Cutting through the north limb of the Wabash Moraine, a debris deposit left by the retreating ice, the discharge left a large outwash fan that blocked the Eel, diverting its upper portion into the canyon in a classic example of stream piracy that formed today's Cedar Creek.
The flow reversal in lower Cedar Creek was probably accelerated by the downcutting of the St. Joseph River, which increased the velocity of its tributaries, causing them to erode toward their headwaters (headward erosion).
Today's Cedar Creek Canyon is a picturesque, forested area just north of Fort Wayne that includes both upland and floodplain environments.
The nearby Bicentennial Woods Nature Preserve has terrain features similar to the canyon, as it contains a relatively large tributary of the Cedar Creek.