Fishkill Creek

Fishkill Creek
Fishkill Creek from NY 52 near Brinckerhoff
Fishkill Creek watershed
Etymology	Dutch for "fish stream"
Native name	Matteawan [1] (Munsee)
Location
Country	United States
State	New York
Region	Hudson Valley
County	Dutchess
Towns	Union Vale, Beekman, East Fishkill, Fishkill
Physical characteristics
Source	Pray Pond
• coordinates	41°40′38″N 73°40′38″W / 41.67722°N 73.67722°W / 41.67722; -73.67722
• elevation	480 ft (150 m)
Mouth	Hudson River S of Denning Point
• coordinates	41°28′55″N 73°59′8″W / 41.48194°N 73.98556°W / 41.48194; -73.98556
• elevation	0 ft (0 m)
Length	33.5 mi (53.9 km), SW
Basin size	193 sq mi (500 km2)
Discharge
• location	Beacon
• average	205 cu ft/s (5.8 m3/s)
• minimum	1.1 cu ft/s (0.031 m3/s)September 12, 1964
• maximum	6,970 cu ft/s (197 m3/s)August 20, 1955
Discharge
• location	Hopewell Junction
• average	130 cu ft/s (3.7 m3/s)
• minimum	25 cu ft/s (0.71 m3/s)1965
• maximum	140 cu ft/s (4.0 m3/s)1972
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	Whaley Lake Brook, Clove Creek
• right	Whortlekill Creek, Sprout Creek

Fishkill Creek (also Fish Kill, from the Dutch vis kille, for "fish creek") is a tributary of the Hudson River in Dutchess County, New York, United States. At 33.5 miles (53.9 km)^[2] it is the second longest stream in the county, after Wappinger Creek. It rises in the town of Union Vale and flows generally southwest to a small estuary on the Hudson just south of Beacon. Part of its 193-square-mile (500 km²) watershed^[3] is in Putnam County to the south. Sprout Creek, the county's third-longest creek, is its most significant tributary. Whaley and Sylvan lakes and Beacon Reservoir, its largest, deepest and highest lakes, are among the bodies of water within the watershed.

While the creek is not impounded for use in any local water supply, it remains a focus of regional conservation efforts as a recreational and aesthetic resource, especially since the lower Fishkill watershed has been extensively developed in the last two decades. It flows through several local parks and is a popular trout stream. Industries and mills along it helped spur the settlement of the region.