It is said to show "some degraded conditions", but does not experience severe pollution and is not considered to be impaired.

The watershed of Toby Creek occupies part or all of ten boroughs and four townships.

The creek then flows east-southeast alongside Pennsylvania Route 415 for a few miles, passing through Dallas on the way.

At this point, it turns east for a few tenths of a mile and receives the tributary Trout Brook from the left.

The creek then turns south and slightly east for a few miles, flowing not far from Pennsylvania Route 309 and entering Kingston Township.

It then turns south-southeast, crossing Pennsylvania Route 309 and receiving the tributary Huntsville Creek from the right.

At this point, the creek enters a water gap, flowing very close to Pennsylvania Route 309.

After several tenths of a mile, the creek turns south, crossing Pennsylvania Route 309 and entering Pringle, where it disappears from the surface.

The creek reappears in Edwardsville and flows west for a few tenths of a mile before turning south and then south-southwest.

Several tenths of a mile further downstream, it reaches its confluence with the Susquehanna River on the border between Edwardsville and Larksville.

[2] Toby Creek joins the Susquehanna River 187.79 miles (302.22 km) upriver of its mouth.

Trout Brook joins Toby Creek 7.60 miles (12.23 km) upstream of its mouth.

[3] The lower reaches of Toby Creek were polluted by coal mining waste in the early 1900s.

[5] It has been described as showing "some degraded conditions", but does not rank among the most polluted watersheds in the Middle Susquehanna Subbasin.

[7] The discharge of Toby Creek in its lower reaches is lowest in August and September, when it averages 15 and 19 cubic feet per second.

[9] The lowest recorded average monthly discharge during that time, 3.00 cubic feet per second, occurred in September 1951.

[11] The average concentration of total dissolved solids in the creek is 117 milligrams per liter (0.117 oz/cu ft), but this was historically slightly higher.

[5] A 9-mile (15-kilometer) long stretch of land along the main stem of Toby Creek is highly urbanized.

This stretch of land begins in Dallas, near the creek's headwaters, and passes through Shavertown, Luzerne, Kingston, and Edwardsville.

[18] A total of 4.03 million gallons of water per day are withdrawn from Toby Creek and its tributaries.

[18] Toby Creek is the main source of flooding in Courtdale, Dallas, Luzerne, Pringle, and Kingston Township.

[4] Toby Creek was entered into the Geographic Names Information System on August 2, 1979.

[13] Peter Grubb operated a gristmill and sawmill on Toby Creek in the late 1700s and/or early 1800s.

Later, in 1836, George W. Little built a small charcoal furnace on the creek at the site of the paper mill.

Around this time, the Lehigh Valley Railroad crossed the watershed, following the creek for its entire length.

The Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad followed also traversed the watershed and followed the creek in its lower reaches.

From that point downstream to the creek's mouth, the drainage basin is designated as a Warmwater Fishery.

[16][note 1] Wild trout naturally reproduce in the creek from its headwaters downstream to its mouth.

[11] Out of a number of stream segments studied by the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, a section of Toby Creek was found to be the poorest habitat.

Specific problems faced by the creek at this site include embeddedness, a lack of riffles, poor epifaunal substrate, low instream cover, low-quality streambanks, and sediment deposition.