South Branch Tunkhannock Creek is not designated as an impaired waterbody and has relatively good water quality.

The topography of the watershed of South Branch Tunkhannock Creek has been described as "rough and hilly" and the underlying geology consists of interbedded sedimentary rock.

It flows northwest through a valley for several tenths of a mile alongside Pennsylvania Route 247 before crossing that highway.

The creek then turns west for a few tenths of a mile, exiting La Plume Township and Lackawanna County.

In this reach, it receives the tributary Trout Brook from the left before turning west, entering Tunkhannock Township, and meandering west-northwest for a few miles.

[2] In the part of the watershed of South Branch Tunkhannock Creek that is above Factoryville, a total of 26.7 miles (43.0 km) of streams are classified as impaired.

[3] Some factors causing impacts to the creek's watershed include urban sprawl and poorly managed stormwater.

[5] Near Factoryville, the average annual discharge of South Branch Tunkhannock Creek is 102.4 cubic feet per second (2.90 m3/s).

[7] At the Pennsylvania Route 438 bridge near the village of Scott, the peak annual discharge of South Branch Tunkhannock Creek has a 1 percent chance of reaching 2,460 cubic feet per second (70 m3/s).

[8] The elevation near the mouth of South Branch Tunkhannock Creek is 627 feet (191 m) above sea level.

[10] The underlying geology of the watershed of South Branch Tunkhannock Creek mainly includes interbedded sedimentary rock.

[11] The topography of the watershed of South Branch Tunkhannock Creek was described as "rough and hilly" in a 1921 book.

The valley of the creek's main stem is surrounded by steep hills and some reaches have alluvial floodplains.

[12] The channel of South Branch Tunkhannock Creek is sinuous and flows through glacial drift and rock formations consisting of sandstone.

[14] In the gorge, the creek carves tubs and potholes and flows through a narrow chasm into a large pool.

[13] The average annual rate of precipitation in the watershed of South Branch Tunkhannock Creek is 35 to 40 inches (89 to 102 cm).

[2] South Branch Tunkhannock Creek flows in a generally westerly direction, although its route is circuitous.

[10] In the portion of the watershed of South Branch Tunkhannock Creek that is above Factoryville, there are 123.5 miles (198.8 km) of streams.

[3] There are more than twenty named ponds, lakes, and swamps in the watershed of South Branch Tunkhannock Creek.

[13] There are three natural gas drilling pads tracked by the Susquehanna River Basin Commission in the watershed of South Branch Tunkhannock Creek upstream of Factoryville.

There are 23 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System sites in the watershed above Factoryville: 19 for wastewater treatment plants, 3 for stormwater, and 1 for industrial purposes.

[16] South Branch Tunkhannock Creek was entered into the Geographic Names Information System on August 2, 1979.

[17] In the early 1900s, major industries in the watershed of South Branch Tunkhannock Creek included agriculture and summer resorts.

Streams in the creek's watershed also provided water power for flour and lumber mills at Laplume, Dalton, and Factoryville.

The major communities in the watershed at this time included Dalton, Factoryville, Glenburn, Fleetville, Laplume, Bardwell, and East Benton.

[10] One of the major features of the Hallstead Cutoff was an embankment in the vicinity of South Branch Tunkhannock Creek.

On a 1-mile (1.6 km) long reach of the creek between US Route 6 and the Keystone College campus, a Delayed Harvest Artificial Lures Only regulation is in effect.

[14] At least 10.0 miles (16.1 km) of South Branch Tunkhannock Creek, downstream of a bridge carrying Pennsylvania Route 438, are navigable by canoe during snowmelt and within three days of heavy rain.

[14] South Branch Tunkhannock Creek is described as "beautiful" at Lackawanna State Park in Jeff Mitchell's book Hiking the Endless Mountains: Exploring the Wilderness of Northeastern.