Accumulating a few small tributaries, it twists eastward back into the Ontario County town of Victor, then back north into Monroe County, where it flows through the towns of Perinton and Penfield on its way to the bay.

The creek is believed to lie in a valley carved out by a pre-glacial Genesee River, which at the time would have flowed into Lake Ontario where Irondequoit Bay does today.

Glacial debris caused the river to be rerouted as the glaciers retreated, leaving only the comparatively small creek (Rogers 1893).

The first settlements in the town of Penfield sprang up along the creek, as its waters were well suited to mills.

The creek's valley caused a problem for the engineers of the original Erie Canal, who ultimately had to build the Great Embankment aqueduct to bridge the valley near Bushnell's Basin (Fairchild 1896:134, Farley 2010, Schoff:505).