Rondout Creek is a tributary of the Hudson River in Ulster and Sullivan counties, New York, United States. It rises on Rocky Mountain in the eastern Catskills, flows south into Rondout Reservoir, part of New York City's water supply network, then into the valley between the Catskills and the Shawangunk Ridge, where it goes over High Falls and finally out to the Hudson at Kingston, receiving along the way the Wallkill River. The name of Rondout Creek comes from the fort, or redoubt, that was erected near its mouth. The Dutch equivalent of the English word redoubt (meaning a fort or stronghold) is reduyt. In the Dutch records of Wildwyck, however, the spelling used to designate this same fort is invariably Ronduyt during the earliest period, with the present form rondout (often capitalized) appearing as early as November 22, 1666. The Rondout Creek became economically important in the 19th century when the Delaware and Hudson Canal followed closely alongside it from Napanoch to the village of Rondout, now part of Kingston, which grew rapidly as the canal's northern port. Today it is important not only for the reservoir, but for the fishing and other recreational opportunities it provides. Due to the Wallkill, it drains a vast area stretching over all the way down to Sussex County, New Jersey. The high mountains around its upper course and the reservoir, which collects water from three others, also add to its flow. Course The Rondout goes through several different stages because of the changes in surrounding geography and past development, such as the canal and reservoir, that has drawn on its waters. Its headwaters, above the reservoir, are a typical mountain stream. Below the reservoir it remains fairly rocky but widens into the floor of a narrow valley. At Napanoch, where it turns northeast and receives its first significant tributary, the Ver Nooy Kill, it becomes wider, as does the valley it drains, and deeper. North of the Shawangunks, where the Wallkill trickles down from Sturgeon Pool, it is wide enough to be referred to as the Rondout River at some points. At Creeklocks, the former northern outlet of the canal, it becomes wide and deep enough to be navigable, and several marinas line the banks of the stream, now more than wide, at Kingston just above its mouth. Catskills and headwaters Rising below the col between Rocky Mountain and Balsam Cap, the