LOCATION

The Yellow Breeches Watershed is located in Cumberland, Adams, and York Counties, Pennsylvania. The headwaters of the Upper Yellow Breeches begin just west of the small town of Walnut Bottom and flow eastward toward Mount Holly Springs. The headwaters of Mountain Creek begin in the northern portion of Adams County. The Upper Yellow Breeches and Mountain Creek converge north of Mount Holly Springs to form the Yellow Breeches Creek. The Yellow Breeches continues to flow eastward until it converges with the Susquehanna River in New Cumberland.

LAND USE

South Mountain and active agricultural lands dominate the Upper Yellow Breeches and Mountain Creek. A large portion of this area is contained within the Michaux State Forest on South Mountain. As the creek flows eastward, residential development and sporadic commercial land uses begin to take over the landscape. When the Yellow Breeches nears New Cumberland, near the Susquehanna River, the landscape is almost completely developed by residential, commercial and industrial activities.

GEOLOGY

South Mountain is composed largely of resistant quartzite and sandstone. These resistant rocks create steep to moderate slopes and deep cut valleys. The Valley area of the Yellow Breeches is composed largely of limestone. This less resistant rock creates small hills and gentle to rolling slopes. The area between the valley and the mountain is called colluvium. These are soils that were geologically a part of the South Mountain but have fallen to this transition zone over time from gravity, wind and water erosion on the landscape.

Yellow Breeches Watershed Association
PO Box 5
Grantham, PA 17027
www.ybwa.org