The creek's source is Thompson Pond near Pine Plains, and it heads southwestward towards its mouth in the Hudson River near New Hamburg.

The initial .25 mi (0.40 km) of the creek runs through rocky, steep, wooded terrain.

However, as it approaches the Hudson it enters the river's tidal range, and has sandbars, mudflats and marshes.

Largemouth bass, bluegill, pumpkinseed, red-breasted sunfish, and brown bullhead, however, are resident species.

[5] Some residents and maps such as the 1867 Dutchess County Atlas refer to the creek as the Wappingers, as does the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation,[6] the National Weather Service, and the Hudson River Riverkeeper.