The watershed of the creek is in the Appalachian Mountain section of the Ridge and Valley physiographic province.

Wild trout naturally reproduce in the creek, but it has a low concentration of macroinvertebrates, as of the early 1990s.

Wilson Creek begins in a small lake in Fell Township, near the Lackawanna County/Susquehanna County line.

[1] Wilson Creek joins the Lackawanna River 30.82 miles (49.60 km) upriver of its mouth.

In 2002, the concentration of aluminum in Wilson Creek was less than 0.5 milligrams per liter in its upper and middle reaches.

[1] The watershed of Wilson Creek is in the Appalachian Mountain section of the Ridge and Valley physiographic province.

The topography of the watershed mainly consists of long, steep ridges with valleys interspersed.

However, it eventually begins to flow alongside Pennsylvania Route 171, where it receives impacts from stripping pits and waste rock piles left over from past mining operations.

Around the time that it begins flowing alongside Pennsylvania Route 171, it passes through the Richmondale Pile, an area of disturbed mining land with some culm.

[5] A report from the early 1900s noted that the streambed of Wilson Creek was rocky in certain reaches, with culm deposits of up to 10 to 12 square feet (0.93 to 1.11 m2) in area.

The report also stated that the creek was fairly large, with banks high enough to avoid overflowing in most reaches.

[6] The uplands of the watershed of Wilson Creek lie on poorly-drained, rocky soil.

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

[8] This name appears on county highway maps published by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

[13] Additionally, the Richmond Number 4 Colliery was historically located near the creek's headwaters and the Buffalo Breaker was also in the watershed.

[15] Wilson Creek was given a stream ranking of "Moderate" in the Lackawanna Valley Industrial Highway Project's Environmental Impact Statement in 1992.

[9] In the early 2000s, the Lackawanna River Watershed Conservation Plan proposed the Wilson Creek Trail.

The creek is on the Watershed Restoration Priority List of the Lackawanna River Corridor Association.

[5] In 2006, the Lackawanna County Conservation District received a letter of support for a Growing Greener grant for a Wilson Creek Watershed Implementation Plan.

[17] Wild trout naturally reproduce in Wilson Creek from its headwaters downstream to its mouth.

[9] Native trees and understory plants occur in the riparian buffer of Wilson Creek upstream of Pennsylvania Route 171.

In Simpson, the vegetation alongside the creek is either mowed or consists of successional and invasive understory plants.