The Roeliff Jansen Kill is a major tributary to the Hudson River

Hudson River

The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...

.

Its source is near Chatham, New York, and its mouth is at the Hudson River at Linlithgo in the town of Livingston

Livingston, New York

Livingston is a town in Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 3,424 at the 2000 census. The town is named after its founding father....

. The stream flows for 56.2 miles (90.4 km) through Dutchess

Dutchess County, New York

Dutchess County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, in the state's Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley. The 2010 census lists the population as 297,488...

 and Columbia

Columbia County, New York

Columbia County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 63,096. The county seat is Hudson. The name comes from the Latin feminine form of the name of Christopher Columbus, which was at the time of the formation of the county a popular proposal...

 counties before entering the Hudson River about 5 miles (8 km) south of Hudson

Hudson, New York

Hudson is a city located along the west border of Columbia County, New York, United States. The city is named after the adjacent Hudson River and ultimately after the explorer Henry Hudson.Hudson is the county seat of Columbia County...

.

Most of the watershed lies in Columbia County, although parts of the northern Dutchess County towns of North East

North East, New York

North East is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 3,002 at the 2000 census.The Town of North East is in the northeastern part of the county...

, Stanford

Stanford, New York

Stanford is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 3,544 at the 2000 census.The Town of Stanford is in the north-central part of the county.-History:Stanford was first settled around 1750...

, Pine Plains, Milan

Milan, New York

Milan is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The Town of Milan is in the northern part of the county.-History:The area that comprises Milan today was the western part of the Little Nine Partners Patent of 1706. Milan was largely a farming and mill town and remains a very rural...

, and Red Hook

Red Hook, New York

Red Hook is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was reported to be 11,319 during the 2010 census. The name is supposedly derived from the red foliage on trees on a small strip of land on the Hudson River. The town contains two villages; the village of Red Hook and the...

 are within the stream's watershed of approximately 212 square miles (549.1 km²). A major tributary is Shekomeko Creek.

Roefill Jansen Kill was the traditional boundary between the Native American Mahican

Mahican

The Mahican are an Eastern Algonquian Native American tribe, originally settling in the Hudson River Valley . After 1680, many moved to Stockbridge, Massachusetts. During the early 1820s and 1830s, most of the Mahican descendants migrated westward to northeastern Wisconsin...

 and Wappinger

Wappinger

The Wappinger were an American tribe native to eastern New York. The term "Wappinger" may also refer to:* Wappinger, New York, the Town of Wappinger named for the tribe...

tribes.

Tributaries

• Klein Kill
• Doove Kill
• Fall Kill
• Ham Brook
• Shekomeko Creek - Native American Che-co-min-go, "place of eels".
  • Bean River
• Punch Brook
• Noster Kill
  • Preechey Hollow Brook
• Bashbish Brook
  • Cedar Brook
  • Wright Brook
  • City Brook
    • Guilder Brook
  • Ashley Hill Brook
    • Lee Pond Brook