| Six Mile Creek | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | New York |
| County | Tompkins |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Dryden, New York, United States |
| • coordinates | 42°28′3″N 76°19′44″W / 42.46750°N 76.32889°W[1] |
| Mouth | Cayuga Inlet |
• location | Ithaca, New York, United States |
• coordinates | 42°26′47″N 76°30′43″W / 42.44639°N 76.51194°W[1] |
• elevation | 117 m (384 ft) |
| Length | 20 mi (32 km) |
| Basin size | 49.6 sq mi (128 km2) |
Six Mile Creek is a 20-mile-long (32 km) creek in Tompkins County, New York. It originates in the Town of Dryden near the intersection of Irish Settlement Road (Tompkins County Highway 162A) and Card Road and drains into Cayuga Inlet, which flows into Cayuga Lake. Its watershed is the principal source of drinking water for the City of Ithaca, New York, and the surrounding communities.
The headwaters lie on private land between Yellow Barn State Forest to the northwest and Hammond Hill State Forest to the southeast. It then flows south into the Town of Caroline, flowing parallel to Six Hundred Road and then crossing beneath New York State Route 79 in Slaterville Springs, after which it turns west until Brooktondale. There it turns northwest entering the Town of Ithaca. From there, the flow is interrupted by a series of dams and then has its outlet at the Cayuga Inlet below the southern end of Cayuga Lake in the City of Ithaca.[2]