Conowingo Creek is a 20.2 miles (32.5 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 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...

 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

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...

 and Cecil County, Maryland

Cecil County, Maryland

Cecil County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. It is part of the Delaware Valley. It was named for Cæcilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore , who was the first Proprietary Governor of the colony of Maryland from 1632 until his death in 1675. The county seat is Elkton. The newspaper...

.

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 "at the rapids".

It originates near the northern border of East Drumore Township and flows south, meeting Jackson Run near the southern border. It enters Fulton Township just above the birthplace of Robert Fulton

Robert Fulton

Robert Fulton was an American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing the first commercially successful steamboat...

, for whom the township is named. Flowing along the east side of Wakefield

Wakefield, Pennsylvania

Wakefield, Pennsylvania is a small unincorporated community located within Fulton Township in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It is located at the junction of Pennsylvania Route 272 and U.S. Route 222....

, it meets Little Conowingo Creek below the town, and begins to flow through hillier terrain before entering Maryland. Its valley soon deepens into a gorge as it approaches the Susquehanna. It empties into the Conowingo Reservoir

Conowingo Dam

The Conowingo Dam is a large hydroelectric dam in the Lower Susquehanna River. The dam, one of the largest non-federal hydroelectric dams in the US, is classified as a medium height, masonry gravity type dam...

 at Pilot Station.