Stony Clove Creek

Stony Clove Creek is a 10.3-mile-long (16.6 km) creek in the Catskill Mountains in New York. It is a tributary of Esopus Creek, which in turn is a tributary of the Hudson River. It joins the Esopus in the village of Phoenicia, and has two smaller tributaries up north of Phoenicia.

Map of Stony Clove Creek, New York, USA

The Stony Clove starts near the Stony Clove Notch in Edgewood in Greene County. It originates at Notch Lake, near the Devil's Tombstone Campsite, and flows through the small villages of Edgewood and Lanesville, entering Ulster County at Chichester.

Early maps and deeds indicate that the Stony Clove flowed into the Warner Bushkill, or alternatively named, the Barber Bushkill, before flowing into the Esopus. Later cartographers have changed the nomenclature of the streams so that the Barber Bushkill or Warner Bushkill flows into the Stony Clove.

It was formed about 10,000 years ago, during the last Ice age. It was formed when the same meltwater that formed the Stony Clove Notch burst through, and flooded a valley. The water, in turn, started running down through an already gouged-out pass, forming a small river.