Cross Run begins immediately east of Pismire Ridge in Hazle Township. The stream flows west-southwest for several hundred feet. It then turns south and after a few hundred feet enters a reservoir. At the southwestern corner of the reservoir, the stream passes through the Upper Mount Pleasant Dam and almost immediately turns southeast, entering a second reservoir after a few hundred feet. At the southeastern corner of this reservoir, it flows south-southwest for several hundred feet before receiving an unnamed tributary and turning west. After several hundred feet, the stream enters a third lake and turns south-southwest. At the southern edge of the lake, the stream loses its flow for a few dozen feet before entering a fourth lake, where it reaches its confluence with Catawissa Creek.
The elevation near the mouth of Cross Run is above sea level. The elevation of the source of the stream is between and above sea level. There is a ravine in the watershed of Cross Run. A coal basin known as Coal Basin No. 2 has one terminus in the vicinity of the stream. This coalbasin is associated with Dreck Creek. There are two reservoirs on the stream near its headwaters, one upstream of the other. The upper reservoir is deep on average, with a maximum depth of. It has an area of approximately eight acres and has a volume of 26,500,000 gallons. The lower reservoir is deep on average, with a maximum depth of. It has a volume of 44,000,000 gallons. Both reservoirs are dammed. Cross Run is in the United States Geological Survey quadrangle of Conyngham. The stream is in the uppermost reaches of the watershed of Catawissa Creek. The stream is southwest of the city of Hazleton.
History
A water supply known as the Mount Pleasant supply existed on Cross Run as early as the early 1900s. The Hazleton Water Company purchased from the Lehigh ValleyCoal Company a pair of supply reservoirs on the stream on January 8, 1895. They were part of the Mount Pleasant Plant. The reservoirs were supplied by a deep well. Drilled wells at the headwaters of the stream were historically used as a water supply. Cross Run was listed in the Geographic Names Information System on January 1, 1990. The stream is also in the Atlas of the Anthracite Coalfields of Pennsylvania. Cross Run was first listed as impaired in 1996. The total maximum daily load date was 2003.
