Watershed
Fishkill Creek's 193-square-mile (500 km2) watershed is the second largest in Dutchess County after Wappinger Creek to the north. It includes almost the entire towns of Beekman and Union Vale, large portions of East Fishkill and Fishkill, sections of LaGrange and Wappinger and small areas in Pleasant Valley and Washington. The Whaley Lake basin, which also includes Little Whaley and Nuclear lakes, is in Pawling. In Putnam County the largest town represented is Philipstown, whose northwestern section (the Clove Creek watershed) drains into the Fishkill. A small portion is in Kent, with an even smaller portion in Putnam Valley marking the watershed's southernmost point.
To the north is the Wappinger Creek watershed. The Ten Mile River basin, the only portion of New York that drains into the Housatonic River, is to the east. On the southeast are the headwaters of the Croton River, an important part of New York City's water supply, with smaller tributaries of the Hudson like Melzingah Brook and Surprise Brook rising on the southeast.
The creek's valley is mostly low-lying level land, with the exception of the area above its headwaters in Union Vale. Most of its descent takes place either in its uppermost 10 miles (16 km), above Poughquag, or its lowermost 5 miles (8 km), below the village of Fishkill, both stretches of which account for 200 feet (61 m) each of its total drop. The average elevation within the watershed is 635 feet (194 m) above sea level. To the south and east are hiller regions of the Taconic Mountains, part of the Highlands Province physiographic region of the Appalachian Mountains. The highest point in the Fishkill's watershed is 1,610-foot (490 m) South Beacon Mountain, also the highest peak of the Hudson Highlands, a few miles from the creek's estuary, which is almost at sea level. In Union Vale, near the creek's source, Clove Mountain rises to 1,400 feet (430 m).
There are 338 miles (544 km) of tributaries within the watershed. The longest is Sprout Creek, which flows south 18.5 miles (29.8 km) from Millbrook to Hopewell Junction. Within the watershed, there are also around 1,575 acres (637 ha) of ponds or lakes. The largest of these is Whaley Lake, at 252 acres (102 ha) also the largest lake in the county. The next-largest lake in the watershed, Sylvan Lake, is the county's deepest.
Water bodies and wetlands cover about 9.8% of the total watershed area. Forests cover 50%, the largest land use category in it. Most are concentrated in the northern, eastern and southern extremes. Residential and agricultural uses account for 21% and 10% respectively. Residential use is heaviest along the lower Sprout Creek and the lower section of Fishkill Creek from Fishkill to Beacon. Agricultural use is most common on the fringes of the more developed areas near the streams.
There are many parks and protected areas within the watershed. The largest is 14,086-acre (5,700 ha) Clarence Fahnestock State Park in Putnam County; however only a portion of that park is within the Fishkill Creek basin. The largest protected area entirely within the watershed is the 3,000-acre (1,200 ha) Sharpe Reservation straddling the county line. The Fishkill Ridge Conservation Area, 1,030 acres (420 ha) on that mountain, is the largest within the area open to the public. Publicly protected areas in the watershed include 50 acres (20 ha) James Baird State Park off the Taconic Parkway and the 909 acres (368 ha) Taconic-Hereford Multiple Use Area nearby. Union Vale's 500-acre (200 ha) Tymor Park near the creek's source is the largest local park. The Innisfree Garden landscape in Pleasant Valley, near the north end of the watershed, is irrigated with water pumped from Tyrrell Lake. In addition, 20 miles (32 km) of the Appalachian Trail runs along the southern fringe of the watershed, much of it on other protected lands or corridor owned by the National Park Service.
Of the municipalities predominantly within the watershed, East Fishkill is the most populous, with more than 25,000 residents as of the 2000 census. The town and village of Fishkill are the next largest with almost 22,000. Beacon, the third-most populous community in the watershed at almost 14,000, has the highest population density in the watershed with 2,892 people per square mile.
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