Cocalico Creek is a 27.2 miles (43.8 km) tributary

Tributary

A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...

 of the Conestoga River

Conestoga River

The Conestoga River, also referred to as Conestoga Creek, is a tributary of the Susquehanna River flowing through the center of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.-Geography:...

 in Lebanon

Lebanon County, Pennsylvania

As of the census of 2000, there were 120,327 people and 32,771 families residing in the county. The population density was 332 people per square mile . There were 49,320 housing units at an average density of 136 per square mile...

 and Lancaster

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

Lancaster County, known as the Garden Spot of America or Pennsylvania Dutch Country, is a county located in the southeastern part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of 2010 the population was 519,445. Lancaster County forms the Lancaster Metropolitan Statistical Area, the...

 counties in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The source is at an elevation of 1320 feet (402.3 m) near Stricklerstown in Millcreek Township

Millcreek Township, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania

Millcreek Township is a township in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,921 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Lebanon, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...

, Lebanon County. The mouth is the confluence

Confluence

Confluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water.Confluence may also refer to:* Confluence , a property of term rewriting systems...

 with the Conestoga River at an elevation of 278 feet (84.7 m) at Talmage

Talmage, Pennsylvania

Talmage, Pennsylvania is an unincorporated community located within West Earl Township in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The main route through Brownstown is Pennsylvania Route 772, which runs through the center of town. Talmage is located just east of Brownstown....

 in West Earl Township

West Earl Township, Pennsylvania

West Earl Township is a township in northeastern Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 6,766 at the 2000 census.Floyd Landis, winner of the 2006 Tour de France, is from the unincorporated village of Farmersville in West Earl Township.-Geography:According to the United...

, Lancaster County.

The name of the creek comes from the Lenape

Lenape language

The Delaware languages, also known as the Lenape languages, are Munsee and Unami, two closely related languages of the Eastern Algonquian subgroup of the Algonquian language family...

, meaning "snake dens".

Cocalico Creek flows south for 10 miles (16.1 km), then southwest 16 miles (25.7 km). The Cocalico Creek watershed has a total area of 140 square miles (362.6 km²) and is part of the larger Chesapeake Bay

Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...

 drainage basin

Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

 via the Susquehanna River

Susquehanna River

The Susquehanna River is a river located in the northeastern United States. At long, it is the longest river on the American east coast that drains into the Atlantic Ocean, and with its watershed it is the 16th largest river in the United States, and the longest river in the continental United...

.

Tributaries

• Hammer Creek
  Hammer Creek
  Hammer Creek is a tributary of Cocalico Creek in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The Erb's Covered Bridge spans Hammer Creek....
  
  
• Middle Creek
  Middle Creek (Cocalico Creek)
  Middle Creek is a tributary of Cocalico Creek in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in the United States.Middle Creek joins Cocalico Creek just upstream from Hammer Creek near the borough of Rothsville.-References:...
  
  
• Meadow Run
• Indian Run
• Cooper Run
• Stony Run
• Little Cocalico Creek