Dry Creek, Brook in City of Tea Tree Gully, Australia

Dry Creek is a seasonal stream that runs from near Yatala Vale in the Mount Lofty Ranges through Wynn Vale, Modbury, Walkley Heights and Pooraka, reaching the Barker Inlet of Gulf St Vincent via a manufactured drain near Globe Derby Park. It is mostly dry in summer and passes through a deep gully behind Yatala Labour Prison, where outcrops of exposed pre-Cambrian rock were quarried.

The creek originally served agricultural purposes in the region but gradually shifted into an environmental conservation area. This transformation shaped how the neighborhood developed over time.

The name Yatala, used for the vale near the creek's source and for the Hundred of Yatala, probably comes from the Aboriginal word 'yertalla', meaning "water running by the side of a river" — a reference to the plain that floods beside Dry Creek after heavy rain. The nearby suburb and railway station also take their name from the stream.

The Dry Creek River Trail is a 14 km walkway running along the creek through Dry Creek Reserve. The creek is seasonal and mostly dry in summer, so expect a sandy bed rather than flowing water on warm-weather visits. The trail passes the rear of Yatala Labour Prison, where a deep gully exposes pre-Cambrian rock.

The flooded plain beside Dry Creek after heavy rain is thought to have given the name Yatala, from the indigenous word 'yertalla', meaning "water running by the side of a river". The name survives in Hundred of Yatala and Yatala Vale.