At least one bridge has been built over the creek and a number of hunting cabins and cottages existed in the area.

Phillips Creek begins in a deep valley near North Mountain in Fairmount Township.

It flows south for nearly a mile before passing through a pond and receiving two unnamed tributaries, one from the left and one from the right.

The creek then flows south-southeast for a considerable distance before leaving the valley and crossing Pennsylvania Route 118.

[4] At the mouth of Phillips Creek, its discharge has a 10 percent chance of reaching 915 cubic feet per second in any given year.

[5] Phillips Creek attempted to flow down the valley of Lick Branch prior to the glaciation of the area.

However, a mass of till under Pennsylvania Route 118 diverted it over a saddle to the west, causing it to end up in its present course.

[9] In its lower reaches, Phillips Creek is surrounded by bedrock made of interbedded reddish-gray shale and sandstone.

Wisconsinan Ice-Contact Stratified Drift and alluvium are also found along parts of the stream, especially in its middle and upper reaches.

[3] The creek is entirely within the United States Geological Survey quadrangle of Sweet Valley.

At the time, these were the only disturbances to the forests on North Mountain[10] There is a small lake in the upper reaches of the creek.

This section stretches approximately 1.8 miles (2.9 km) from the creek's headwaters to Pennsylvania Route 118.