Solomon Creek is a tributary of the Susquehanna River in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, in the United States.

[1][2] The creek is affected by acid mine drainage and has significant loads of iron, aluminum, and manganese.

The Solomon Creek watershed is located in the Anthracite Valley section of the ridge-and-valley geographical province.

However, since then several fish species, including brook trout, have inhabited the creek and its tributaries.

Solomon Creek starts on western Penobscot Mountain in northern Fairview Township and flows west down the mountain for a short distance before turning northwards, paralleling Pennsylvania Route 309 and briefly Pennsylvania Route 437.

It picks up Pine Creek and cuts a gap through Wilkes-Barre Mountain and then through Ashley.

[3] The creek soon turns west into Hanover Township again, having flowed 6 miles (9.7 km) by this point.

[1] Solomon Creek has an orange color as it flows past Wilkes-Barre, due to acid mine drainage.

The lowest load of iron is 0 pounds (0 kg) per day at the site below Pine Creek and Solomon Creek at Sugar Notch Run and the highest is 9,624 pounds (4,365 kg) per day at the Buttonwood Tunnel.

The load of acidity in the creek ranges from 0 at site SR to 1,506.1 pounds (683.2 kg) per day at the Buttonwood Tunnel.

The iron concentration ranged from 0 at over 20 sites to 36 milligrams per liter at an acid mine drainage discharge in the watershed.

The concentration of dissolved oxygen ranged from 0 at eight sites to 13 milligrams per liter at SU01, and on Pine Creek northeast of Pennsylvania Route 309 and below Unnamed Tributary 4.

Ten miles (sixteen kilometers) of the streams on the creek's watershed are rendered devoid of life by mine drainage.

[1] According to Robert Hughes, the Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation's executive director, the water level of Solomon Creek has risen since the middle of the 19th century.

On the ridge, the Mauch Chunk Formation exists, with red shale, sandstone, and siltstone.

It is 1,394 feet (425 m) above sea level and 2.25 miles (3.62 km) southeast of Wilkes-Barre's Public Square.

[1] The lowest elevation in the watershed is 560 feet (170 m) on the western side of the creek's floodplain.

[1] In the Solomon Gap, there are piles coal ash that is pink and orange due to oxidation.

[8] Soils in the Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 207, in the Solomon Creek watershed, include the Arnot Rock outcrop complex.

The regular variety of this soil, which occurs on slopes with a grade of 8% to 25%, is the same, but has a bedrock depth of 18 inches (46 cm) and slower runoff.

In the mid-1800s, the population of the watershed increased significantly due to coal mining and timbering opportunities.

[1] The first road in Fairview Township, the Wilkes-Barre and Hazleton Turnpike, started at Solomon Creek.

They were called a "beautiful cascade" by Philadelphia's Portfolio in 1809, although a 1909 book stated that the waterfalls were no longer "picturesque" or "delightful".

A gristmill on the creek in Hanover Township had been built by 1812 and was run by George Mesinger.

[16] Mining has been done in the Solomon Creek watershed in the past, causing considerable environmental damage.

[1] A 1977 study by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission observed brook trout inhabiting the watershed, although the stream was listed as impaired on account of the mining.

[20] In January 1996, 400 buildings along Solomon Creek flooded by it due to melting snow.

It was called Moses Creek on maps of Pennsylvania created by William Scull in the 1770s.

[1] The most common aquatic insects at the headwaters of unimpaired streams in the watershed of Solomon Creek are alderflies, caddis flies, dragonflies, mayflies, and stoneflies.

[1] The Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 207 are located in the southeastern part of the Solomon Creek Watershed.