Prairie Creek (Smith County)

Prairie Creek rises in Lindale in western Smith County (at 32°31' N, 95°25' W) and runs southwest for eleven miles to its mouth (at 32°22' N, 95°27' W) on the Neches River, a mile north of the intersection of the Smith, Van Zandt, and Henderson county lines. The stream is intermittent in its upper reaches. Black Fork Creek enters Prairie Creek two miles from New Harmony. Near the origin of the creek the terrain is flat to rolling with some local steep slopes and is surfaced by brown, loamy, fine sand that supports hardwood and pine forests. Near the stream's mouth, low-lying floodplains are surfaced by poorly drained brown loams over clay. Here grow water-tolerant hardwoods, conifers, and grasses.