Allegheny Islands State Park

For the Allegheny River islands in Allegheny National Forest near Tionesta, Pennsylvania, see Allegheny Islands Wilderness. For the New York State Park, see Allegany State Park.

Allegheny Islands State Park
Pennsylvania State Park
The eastern part of Allegheny Islands State Park and the C. W. Bill Young Lock and Dam (No. 3) on the Allegheny River
Named for: Allegheny River islands

Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
County	Allegheny
Township	Harmar

Elevation	735 ft (224 m) ^[1]
Coordinates	40°32′09″N 79°49′44″W / 40.53583°N 79.82889°W / 40.53583; -79.82889Coordinates: 40°32′09″N 79°49′44″W / 40.53583°N 79.82889°W / 40.53583; -79.82889

Area	43 acres (17 ha)

Founded	1980
Management	Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

IUCN category	V - Protected Landscape/Seascape

Location of Allegheny Islands State Park in Pennsylvania
Website: Allegheny Islands State Park

Allegheny Islands State Park is a 43-acre (17 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Harmar Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The undeveloped park is composed of three alluvial islands located in the middle of the Allegheny River northeast of Pittsburgh.^[2] The islands are just north of the boroughs of Oakmont and Plum, and southwest of Cheswick.^[3]^[4] Bridges for the Pennsylvania Turnpike (Interstate 76) and the Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad Branch of the Canadian National Railway cross the Allegheny River at the middle island.^[5]

Islands

The park land on the islands has a total area of 43 acres (17 ha), with two islands downstream of the Allegheny River Lock and Dam Three (officially named the C. W. Bill Young Lock and Dam), and the other island upstream.^[2] Twelve Mile Island is the furthest downstream (west) and has a number of houses and buildings on the western four-fifths of the island (the park land is the eastern end).^[5]^[6] The remaining two islands are both uninhabited and have no structures on them. They were originally one island named Fourteen Mile Island, but were split into two parts by the construction of the dam.^[7] Today the name Fourteen Mile Island is given to the middle island, just downstream (west) of the dam, and it is the site of the highway and railroad bridges.^[5]^[6] According to the USGS GNIS, the last island (which was once part of Fourteen Mile Island) is unnamed (although it is still labeled "Fourteen Mile Island" on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers navigation maps of the Allegheny River.)^[1]^[8] This unnamed island is the easternmost and the only one upstream of the dam. There are also five to seven shoals near the islands, which are occasionally exposed.^[1]

Twelve Mile and Fourteen Mile Islands are named for their distances (12 miles (19 km) and 14 miles (23 km)) along the Allegheny River to the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers to form the Ohio River in downtown Pittsburgh. They are two of six alluvial islands in the Allegheny River near Pittsburgh (for comparison, near Pittsburgh the Ohio River has only three islands and the Monongahela River has none). "The large number of islands in the Allegheny is a reflection of the large amount of glacially-derived sediment that was moved by the river."^[9]

Facilities

A view of the Allegheny River from an island in the park

Allegheny Islands State Park was established on December 31, 1980. As of 2007, it is undeveloped so that there are no facilities, and also no plans for future development. The park can only be accessed by boat. Camping is allowed on the islands and they are open for visits by groups such as the Boy Scouts and Venture Outdoors. Allegheny Islands State Park is administered from the Region 2 Office in Prospect, Pennsylvania.^[2]

Nearby state parks

The following state parks are within 30 miles (48 km) of Allegheny Islands State Park:^[10]^[11]

Hillman State Park (Washington County)
Keystone State Park (Westmoreland County)
Point State Park (Allegheny County)

References

1 2 3 Geographic Names Information System, United States Geological Survey (August 27, 2007). "Geographic Names Information System Feature Detail Report: Allegheny Islands State Park". Retrieved August 28, 2007.
1 2 3 "Allegheny Islands State Park". Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Retrieved September 17, 2006.
↑ 2007 General Highway Map Allegheny County Pennsylvania (PDF) (Map). 1:65,000. Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Bureau of Planning and Research, Geographic Information Division. Retrieved July 27, 2007. Note: shows Allegheny River and its islands
↑ "The Mainline Canal Greenway: Pittsburgh Trail Map" (PDF). Greenways Incorporated. Retrieved September 17, 2006. Note: shows Allegheny Islands State Park
1 2 3 Allegheny River Chart No. 5 (Pennsylvania, Allegheny County): Twelve Mile Island, Fourteen Mile Island, C.W. Bill Young Lock & Dam Pool (PDF) (Map). 1' - 1500". United States Army Corps of Engineers, Pittsburgh District. January 2004. Retrieved August 25, 2008.
1 2 USGS New Kensington West (PA) Topo Map (Map). 1:24,000. Cartography by United States Geological Survey. TopoQuest. Retrieved July 5, 2008.
↑ Pennsylvania Environmental Council. "Three Rivers Conservation Plan, Chapter One: Project Area Characteristics" (PDF). Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Retrieved April 11, 2008.
↑ Allegheny River Chart No. 6 (Pennsylvania, Allegheny County): Springdale, New Kensington (PDF) (Map). 1' - 1500". United States Army Corps of Engineers, Pittsburgh District. January 2004. Retrieved 2007-08-25.
↑ "Site: PGHBW 4-3, A View of the Point from Grandview Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA". University of Pittsburgh, Department of Geology. Archived from the original on 15 July 2007. Retrieved August 25, 2007.
↑ Michels, Chris (1997). "Latitude/Longitude Distance Calculation". Northern Arizona University. Archived from the original on 11 April 2008. Retrieved April 15, 2008.
↑ "Find a Park by Region (interactive map)". Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Retrieved 2011-11-12.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Allegheny Islands State Park.

Protected areas of Pennsylvania

Federal

NPS National Historical Parks & National Historic Sites	Allegheny Portage Railroad NHS Edgar Allan Poe NHS Eisenhower NHS 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

Other protected areas	Allegheny National Recreation Area Blue Marsh National Recreation Area Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area Lackawanna Heritage Valley National and State Heritage Area Middle Delaware National Scenic River Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River

National Forests	Allegheny

USFS National Historic Sites	Grey Towers

National Wildlife Refuges	Cherry Valley Erie John Heinz Ohio River Islands

State

State Parks	Allegheny Islands Archbald Pothole Bald Eagle Beltzville Bendigo Benjamin Rush 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 S. B. Elliott Salt Springs Samuel S. Lewis Sand Bridge Shawnee Shikellamy Sinnemahoning Sizerville Susquehanna Susquehannock Swatara Tobyhanna Trough Creek Tuscarora Tyler Upper Pine Bottom Varden Warriors Path Whipple Dam White Clay Creek Worlds End Yellow Creek

State Forests	Bald Eagle Buchanan Clear Creek Cornplanter Delaware Elk Forbes Gallitzin Lackawanna Loyalsock Michaux Moshannon Rothrock Sproul Susquehannock Tiadaghton Tioga Tuscarora Weiser William Penn (Wild areas)

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

Other

Other	Anders Run Natural Area Forrest H. Duttlinger Natural Area Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Hoverter and Sholl Box Huckleberry Natural Area Johnson Run Natural Area Stone Valley Recreation Area Trexler Nature Preserve Wykoff Run Natural Area

Hiking trails	Appalachian Baker Black Forest Central Mountains Shared Use Darlington Eastern Continental Five Star Glacier Ridge Great Eastern Greene River Horse-Shoe Indian Creek Valley Loyalsock Mid State Standing Stone Mason-Dixon North Country Ohio River Old Loggers Path Pinchot Potomac Heritage Quehanna Rachel Carson Sheepskin Susquehannock Thunder Swamp Tuscarora Valley Forge Historical West Rim Wissahickon Youghiogheny River

Rail trails	Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike Beaver River East Coast Greenway Five Star Ghost Town Great Allegheny Passage Great Shamokin Path Greene River Indian Creek Valley Lebanon Valley Lehigh Gorge Liberty Bell Lower Montour Ohio River Palmer Bikeway Panhandle Perkiomen Pine Creek Plainfield Township Schuylkill River Sheepskin Struble Susquehanna Warrior Switchback Three Rivers Heritage York Country Heritage Youghiogheny River

Nature centers	List of nature centers in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

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