It is located in west central Minnesota within Chippewa, Kandiyohi, Lac qui Parle, Lincoln, Lyon, Redwood, Renville, Yellow Medicine counties and northeastern South Dakota. There are 30 municipalities in the watershed of which the city of Willmar is the largest. The Hawk Creek-Yellow Medicine River major watershed area is approximately 2,075 square miles or 1,327,696 acres. The watershed is subdivided into 160 minor watersheds. The minor watersheds range in size from 973 acres to 29,864 acres with the mean size approximately 8,298 acres.
Agriculture is the predominant land use within the watershed.