Course
Lycoming County is about 130 miles (210 km) northwest of Philadelphia and 165 miles (266 km) east-northeast of Pittsburgh. The source of White Deer Hole Creek is in Crawford Township, just over the Clinton County line. Both it and the western half of the creek are within Tiadaghton State Forest. The creek flows east and soon crosses a natural gas pipeline and the Lycoming County line into Limestone Township.
It soon flows into Washington Township, which has more of White Deer Hole Creek than any other township. It receives unnamed tributaries in the Fourth, Third, Second, and First Gaps of South White Deer Ridge on the south or right bank. The creek leaves Tiadaghton State Forest after the Third Gap (the forest itself continues along the ridge to the river), and stops being "Class A Wild Trout Waters" between the Second and First Gaps. It receives the unnamed tributary in Beartrap Hollow 10.8 miles (17.4 km) west of its mouth, then passes south of the unincorporated village of Elimsport.
White Deer Hole Creek then flows east into Gregg Township in Union County, receiving its major tributary, Spring Creek, on the left bank 3.6 miles (5.8 km) west of its mouth. Spring Creek rises north of Elimsport in Washington Township and flows east-southeast, passing through Pennsylvania State Game Lands No. 252 and just south of the Federal Correctional Institute, Allenwood.
The creek next flows just south of the hamlet of Spring Garden, then south of the village of Allenwood, where it has its confluence with the West Branch Susquehanna River. The direct distance between the source and mouth is only 16 miles (26 km). U.S. Route 15 and the Union County Industrial Railroad run north-south here along the river and cross the creek just before its mouth; however, this track is not in service as of 2009. Pennsylvania Route 44 runs east-west roughly parallel to the creek between Elimsport and Allenwood. Township roads run along the eastern two-thirds of the creek, and smaller, more primitive roads follow it to its source.
From the mouth of White Deer Hole Creek it is 17.7 miles (28.5 km) along the West Branch Susquehanna River to its confluence with the Susquehanna River at Northumberland. The elevation at the source is 2,180 feet (660 m), while the mouth is at an elevation of 445 feet (136 m). The difference in elevation, 1,735 feet (529 m), divided by the length of the creek of 20.5 miles (33.0 km) gives the average drop in elevation per unit length of creek or relief ratio of 84.6 feet/mile (16.0 m/km). The meander ratio is 1.14, so the creek's path is not entirely straight in its bed. The meandering increases near the mouth.
For its entire length, White Deer Hole Creek runs along the north side of South White Deer Ridge, an east-west ridge of the Appalachian Mountains. North White Deer Ridge and Bald Eagle Mountain form the northern edge of the creek valley. There are 24 unnamed tributaries on the south side of the creek, all flowing down the side of South White Deer Ridge, while there are only 11 tributaries on the north side, including Spring Creek.
White Deer Creek, the next major creek to the south, flows along the other side of South White Deer Ridge in Union County and is just 1.9 miles (3.1 km) away (as measured along the West Branch Susquehanna River). The next major creek to the north is Muncy Creek, 10.2 miles (16.4 km) away along the river, but on the opposite bank. The next creek to the north on the same bank is Black Hole Creek, on the south side of Bald Eagle Mountain. It has a small watershed of 21.1 square miles (55 km2) and enters the river 4.0 miles (6.4 km) away at the borough of Montgomery.
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