Pine Creek (Pennsylvania) - Misplaced Pages

Creek in Pennsylvania, United States For other streams in Pennsylvania named Pine Creek, see Pine Creek (disambiguation).

Pine Creek
Pine Creek from the Pine Creek Rail Trail in Lycoming County

Location
Country	Potter, Tioga, Lycoming and Clinton counties in Pennsylvania, U.S.
Physical characteristics

Source
• location	Ulysses Township, Potter County
• elevation	2,420 feet (740 m)

Mouth
• location	West Branch Susquehanna River between the boroughs of Avis and Jersey Shore
• coordinates	41°10′16″N 77°16′09″W / 41.1710°N 77.2691°W / 41.1710; -77.2691
Length	87.2 miles (140.3 km)
Basin size	979 square miles (2,540 km)

Pine Creek is a tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River in Potter, Tioga, Lycoming, and Clinton counties in Pennsylvania. The creek is 87.2 miles (140.3 km) long. Within Tioga County, 23.25 miles (37.42 km) of Pine Creek are designated as a Pennsylvania Scenic River.

Pine Creek is the largest tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River and has the largest watershed of all the West Branch’s tributaries.

Name

Pine Creek is named for the many pine trees that lined (and now again line) much of its banks. The Iroquois called Pine Creek Tiadaghton, which according to Owlett, either meant "The River of Pines" or "The Lost or Bewildered River". Pine Creek is the largest "creek" in the United States.

Geography

Pine Creek's source is in Potter County, 5 miles (8 km) southeast of Ulysses. It flows southeast 16 miles (26 km) to Galeton, where it receives its first major tributary, the West Branch Pine Creek. It then flows east 12 miles (19 km) to Tioga County and the village of Ansonia. Here it receives its second major tributary, Marsh Creek, and turns south again for 16 miles (26 km). This stretch is the start of the Pine Creek Gorge, which is about 1,000 feet (300 m) deep in places.

At the village of Blackwell, Pine Creek receives its third major tributary, Babb Creek. It continues southwest 14 miles (23 km) and enters Lycoming County, where it turns southeast for 28 miles (45 km) to its mouth. At Waterville it receives its fourth major tributary, Little Pine Creek. Pine Creek continues south and forms part of the border between Lycoming and Clinton counties.

Its confluence with the West Branch Susquehanna River is at this border, between the boroughs of Avis (in Clinton County, to the west) and Jersey Shore (in Lycoming County, to the east).

The elevation at the source of Pine Creek is 2,420 feet (740 m), while the mouth is at an elevation of 520 feet (160 m). The difference in elevation—1,900 feet (580 m)—divided by the length of the creek—86.5 miles (139.2 km)—gives an average drop or relief ratio of 22.0 ft/mi (4.2 m/km ). The meander ratio is 1.08, so the creek is fairly straight in its bed.

Watershed

Pine Creek's watershed covers 979 square miles (2,540 km), the largest watershed of all tributaries of the West Branch Susquehanna River.

Recreation

Pine Creek and Pine Creek Gorge (also known as the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania) are a popular outdoor recreation destination. The West Rim Trail is a 30-mile-long (48 km) hiking trail along the west rim of the Pine Creek Gorge.

The Pine Creek Rail Trail runs beside the creek through the gorge from Ansonia to Jersey Shore. The railroad through the gorge opened in 1883 as the Jersey Shore, Pine Creek and Buffalo Railway, passing into the control of the Fall Brook Coal Company in 1884, and the New York Central Railroad via a lease in 1899, with full integration into the NYC in 1914. Conrail took over the line in 1976, and the last train ran through the gorge on October 7, 1988.

History

The Fair Play Men were illegal settlers (squatters) who established their own system of self-rule from 1773 to 1785 in the West Branch Susquehanna River valley of Pennsylvania in what is now the United States. Because they settled in territory claimed by Native Americans, they had no recourse to the Pennsylvania colonial government. Accordingly, they established what was known as the Fair Play System, with three elected commissioners who ruled on land claims and other issues for the group. In a remarkable coincidence, the Fair Play Men made their own declaration of independence from Britain on July 4, 1776, beneath the "Tiadaghton Elm" on the west bank of Pine Creek, very near the mouth.

Bridges

The Bridge in Porter Township was built in 1889.
The Bridge in Brown Township was built in 1890.
The English Center Suspension Bridge was built in 1891.

References

U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed August 8, 2011
Meginness, John Franklin (1892). "Chapter II.". History of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania: including its aboriginal history; the colonial and revolutionary periods; early settlement and subsequent growth; organization and civil administration; the legal and medical professions; internal improvement; past and present history of Williamsport; manufacturing and lumber interests; religious, educational, and social development; geology and agriculture; military record; sketches of boroughs, townships, and villages; portraits and biographies of pioneers and representative citizens, etc. etc (1st ed.). Chicago, IL: Brown, Runk & Co. ISBN 0-7884-0428-8. Retrieved 2006-03-16. (Note: ISBN refers to Heritage Books July 1996 reprint. URL is to a scan of the 1892 version with some OCR typos).
Owlett, Steven E. (1993). Seasons Along The Tiadaghton: An Environmental History of the Pine Creek Gorge (1st ed.). Petaluma, CA: Interprint. ISBN 0-9635905-0-2.
Shaw, Lewis C. Pennsylvania Gazetteer of Streams Part II (Water Resources Bulletin No. 16). Prepared in Cooperation with the United States Department of the Interior Geological Survey (1st ed.). Harrisburg, PA: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Environmental Resources (no ISBN).
^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.

External links

Susquehanna River system

Lower Susquehanna River

Juniata River

West Branch Susquehanna River

Middle Susquehanna River

Chemung River

	Susquehanna R. (mouth) Baldwin Cr. Bentley Cr. Seeley Cr. South Cr. Newtown Cr. Cohocton R. Meads Cr. Mud Cr. Campbell Cr. Fivemile Cr. Tioga R. Canisteo R. (Tuscarora Cr.) (Bennetts Cr.) (Canacadea Cr.) Cowanesque R. (Troups Cr.) Crooked Cr. Mill Cr.

Upper Susquehanna River

Streams shown as: Tributaries
subtributaries
(subsubtributaries)

Protected areas of Pennsylvania

Federal

NPS National Historical Parks & National Historic Sites	Allegheny Portage Railroad NHS Edgar Allan Poe NHS Eisenhower NHS First State NHP Friendship Hill NHS Gloria Dei (Old Swedes') Church NHS Hopewell Furnace NHS Independence NHP Steamtown NHS Valley Forge NHP
National Memorials	Benjamin Franklin Flight 93 Johnstown Flood Thaddeus Kosciuszko
National Battlefields and National Military Parks	Fort Necessity NB Gettysburg NMP
National Trails	Appalachian Trail
National Forests	Allegheny
USFS National Historic Sites	Grey Towers
National Wildlife Refuges	Cherry Valley Erie John Heinz Ohio River Islands
Wilderness areas	Allegheny Islands Hickory Creek
Other protected areas	Allegheny National Recreation Area Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area Lackawanna Heritage Valley National and State Heritage Area Lower Delaware National Wild and Scenic River Middle Delaware National Scenic River Susquehanna National Heritage Area Tionesta Scenic Area Tionesta Wild Area Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River

State

Natural Areas	Alan Seeger Algerine Swamp Anders Run Bark Cabin Bear Meadows Bear Run Beartown Woods Big Flat Laurel Black Ash Swamp Bruce Lake Buckhorn Carbaugh Run Charles F. Lewis Cranberry Swamp David R. Johnson Detweiler Run Devil’s Elbow East Branch Swamp Forrest H. Dutlinger Frank E. Masland Halfway Run Hemlocks The Hook Hoverter and Sholl Box Huckleberry Jakey Hollow Johnson Run Joyce Kilmer Kettle Creek Gorge Lebo Red Pine Little Juniata Little Mud Pond Swamp Little Tinicum Island Lower Jerry Run Marion Brooks M.K. Goddard/Wykoff Run Meeting of the Pines Miller Run Mt. Cydonia Ponds Mt. Davis Mt. Logan Pennel Run Pine Creek Gorge Pine Lake Pine Ridge Pine Tree Trail Reynolds Spring Roaring Run Rocky Ridge Rosencrans Bog Ruth Zimmerman Sheets Island Archipelago Snyder-Middleswarth Spruce Swamp Stillwater Sweet Root Tall Timbers Tamarack Run Tamarack Swamp Torbert Island
State Parks	Allegheny Islands Archbald Pothole Bald Eagle Beltzville Bendigo Benjamin Rush Big Elk Creek Big Pocono Big Spring Black Moshannon Blue Knob Boyd Big Tree Buchanan's Birthplace Bucktail Caledonia Canoe Creek Chapman Cherry Springs Clear Creek Codorus Colonel Denning Colton Point Cook Forest Cowans Gap Delaware Canal Denton Hill Elk Erie Bluffs Evansburg Fort Washington Fowlers Hollow Frances Slocum French Creek Gifford Pinchot Gouldsboro Greenwood Furnace Hickory Run Hillman Hills Creek Hyner Run Hyner View Jacobsburg Jennings Joseph E. Ibberson Kettle Creek Keystone Kings Gap Kinzua Bridge Kooser Lackawanna Laurel Hill Laurel Mountain Laurel Ridge Laurel Summit Lehigh Gorge Leonard Harrison Linn Run Little Buffalo Little Pine Locust Lake Lyman Run Marsh Creek Maurice K. Goddard McCalls Dam McConnells Mill Memorial Lake Milton Mont Alto Moraine Mt. Pisgah Nescopeck Neshaminy Nockamixon Nolde Forest Norristown Farm Ohiopyle Oil Creek Ole Bull Parker Dam Patterson Penn-Roosevelt Pine Grove Furnace Poe Paddy Poe Valley Point Presque Isle Prince Gallitzin Promised Land Prompton Prouty Place Pymatuning R. B. Winter Raccoon Creek Ralph Stover Ravensburg Reeds Gap Ricketts Glen Ridley Creek Ryerson Station Salt Springs Samuel S. Lewis Sand Bridge Shawnee Shikellamy Simon B. Elliott Sinnemahoning Sizerville Susquehanna Susquehanna Riverlands Susquehannock Swatara Tobyhanna Trough Creek Tuscarora Tyler Upper Pine Bottom Varden Vosburg Neck Warriors Path Washington Crossing Whipple Dam White Clay Creek Worlds End Yellow Creek
State Forests	Bald Eagle Buchanan Clear Creek Cornplanter Delaware Elk Forbes Gallitzin Loyalsock Michaux Moshannon Pinchot Rothrock Sproul Susquehannock Tiadaghton Tioga Tuscarora Weiser William Penn
Scenic Rivers	Bear Run French Creek Lehigh River LeTort Spring Run Lick Run Lower Brandywine Octoraro Creek Pine Creek Schuylkill River Stony Creek Tucquan Creek Tulpehocken Creek Yellow Breeches Creek
State Game Lands	12 13 14 24 25 26 28 29 30 31 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 179 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 335
Wild areas	Algerine Asaph Burns Run Clear Shade Hammersley James C. Nelson Kettle Creek Russell P. Letterman Martin Hill McIntyre Penns Creek Quebec Run Quehanna Russell P. Letterman Square Timber Stairway Thickhead Mountain Trough Creek Wolf Run
Other	Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail Mohn Mill Ponds Wild Plant Sanctuary Stone Valley Recreation Area

Local and private

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