flows under a causeway carrying Metro-North's Hudson Line and empties into the Hudson south of Denning Point. Watershed Fishkill Creek's 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 each of its total drop. The average elevation within the watershed is 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 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 . There are of tributaries within the watershed. The longest is Sprout Creek, which flows south from Millbrook to Hopewell Junction. Within the watershed, there are also around of ponds or lakes. The largest of these is Whaley Lake, at 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