[1] Its north-northeast end point adjacent the state line is the southwest start region of the Snake Valley (Great Basin).

It originates in the foothills north of Modena, Utah, (in a widening valley origin, southeast, south, and southwest, about 8 mi wide),[4] and drains northwest, following the Hamlin Valley into Nevada.

[1] This southeast stretch of the valley trends north-northwesterly, about 25 mi,[4] as do the Indian Peak and White Rock Mountain's central ridgelines, east and west.

Adjacent at the disappearing region 2.5 mi west,[5] Big Springs Creek,[5] originates from Big Springs, at the southeast foothills of the Snake Range, and flows north past Burbank and into the Snake Valley, joins Lake Creek, and empties into Pruess Lake.

In 1953, at a sheep camp in Hamlin Valley, Elma Mackelprang observed tiny whitish flakes swirling through the air.