| Steele Creek | |
| Pushpin Map: | New York Adirondack Park#USA |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of the mouth of Steele Creek |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | United States |
| Subdivision Type2: | State |
| Subdivision Name2: | New York |
| Subdivision Type3: | Region |
| Subdivision Name3: | Central New York |
| Subdivision Type4: | County |
| Subdivision Name4: | Herkimer |
| Source1: | Unnamed swamp |
| Source1 Location: | South of Cedarville |
| Source1 Coordinates: | 42.9162°N -75.1215°W[1] |
| Mouth: | Mohawk River |
| Mouth Location: | Ilion |
| Mouth Coordinates: | 43.0223°N -75.0438°W |
| Mouth Elevation: | 384feet |
| Progression: | Steele Creek → Mohawk River → Hudson River → Upper New York Bay |
| Basin Size: | 27.4sqmi[2] |
Steele Creek is a river in Herkimer County in the state of New York. The creek begins in an unnamed swamp south of Cedarville, and flows in a northeast direction before emptying into the Mohawk River in the village of Ilion. Steele Creek travels through the Ilion Gorge and alongside NY-51 for most of its length.[3] Steele Creek derives its name from Rudolph Stahl (Staele, Staley, Steele), who built the first grist mill in Ilion along the creek.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) maintains a stream gauge on the creek 1.2miles upstream from the mouth in the Village of Ilion at the Frederick Street bridge. The station was in operation from November 1966 to September 1968 and then from October 2014 to now. It also took annual maximum measurements from 1964-1966, 1969, 1971-1983, 1985-1986, and 2000. The station had an estimated maximum discharge of per second and a gauge height of 5.69feet on May 13, 2000. It had minimum discharge of per second on On August 7, 2018.[4]
On January 12, 2018, ice that broke loose by unseasonably high temperatures and rainfall caused ice jams in Steele Creek by Ilion which caused the water to crest over on Otsego Street (NY-51).[5]