[4] Beginning near Prairie Mountain near the Lane–Benton county border in the Central Oregon Coast Range, Lake Creek flows generally southeast through the Siuslaw National Forest to the vicinity of Horton, then southwest through the communities of Blachly, Triangle Lake, Greenleaf, and Deadwood.

It enters the Siuslaw River at Swisshome, 29 miles (47 km) by water from the larger stream's mouth on the Pacific Ocean at Florence.

Open all year, the site is used for picnicking, swimming, and viewing runs of steelhead and coho and Chinook salmon as they travel upstream to spawn.

[8] Whitewater enthusiasts sometimes run an 8-mile (13 km) stretch between Deadwood on Lake Creek and Tide on the Siuslaw River.

[2] Lake Creek supports populations of steelhead, Chinook salmon, and cutthroat trout that can be legally caught under certain conditions.